Total Drama Nialasach (Zero Sum based SYOC)
by 16Doobop13
Summary: Chris McLean invites 24 contestants to compete in an all new Zero Sum based season of Total Drama for another 1 million, where not only will the campers be battling each other to win, but they'll be fighting for supplies as well! Episode 3: Drama ensues and power players both set up strategies and make big plays. Freya passes secrets around like prison cigarettes. 21/24 left
1. Intro and Cast List

**_This is an SYOC story, and while I may or may not post a cast list when I've accepted enough OCs, the story itself will not start until I am finished with Total Drama Zero Sum (and that's the earliest this fic will start) Just letting you all know that, for those of you who decide to submit, this story will spend a long time before I start it (remember how Cursed Island took forever to finally get going? This story will likely go through the same waiting period)_**

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"It's Total Drama Zero Sum once again!" Chris McLean exclaims as he raises his hands and the camera zooms out to reveal he's standing on top of the summit of one of many small mountains in a range on a perfectly hexagonal island.

"We've moved from lake Nui Kaua to this little gem of a hidden island in the North Pacific, and you heard me right! Thanks to the money this show made off of The Cursed Island alone, we'll be here to stay for the foreseeable future! And what better way to celebrate the success of the Nui Kaua trilogy than to use this new island to do it all over again?

Welcome to Crios Cath!

Here on this island, 4 unlucky teams of 6 campers each will be forced to compete with and against each other not only for immunity, but for the camp supplies practically necessary for their survival on this island!

Each team will have only a quarter of what can technically be considered a suitable campsite, and will have to make do with what they have, and win challenges to keep their equipment from falling into the hands of an enemy team!

Whenever a team loses a challenge, they will meet in the small desert on the center of the island and partake in a Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony, during which, all present contestants must vote one of their fellow teammates off of the island. After the votes are tallied by yours truly, all but one contestant will receive a commemorative golden medallion. The player that does not receive a medallion must enter the dreaded Tomb of Shame, and can give up all their hope of winning the competition.

A brand new island!

A brand new cast!

A whole slew of brand new challenges!

This is Total Drama Nialasach!"

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 **SYOC Rules for this story:**

 ***There is no limit to how many OCs you can submit, but I will be aiming for only one OC from 24 different submitters, so be sure whichever OC you want to compete the most is submitted first should you submit more than one.**

 ***I'm looking for 12 male and 12 female contestants, and once I have all of them, the teams will be randomly drawn.**

 ***No Mary Sue/Gary Stu characters**

 ***Please PM me your OC submissions, and title the PM "Nialasach OC: (OC Name)"**

 ***If you have an OC submission form from The Cursed Island already filled out (Including the PM Interview) that wasn't accepted to that fic, I'd be glad to give them priority here (You put so much effort into them, and I did like them). However, you must let me know you want to submit them to this fic through a PM titled 'Resubmission', otherwise I won't notice you.**

 ***This is not a first-come first served basis, but I will be either accepting or declining OCs as I receive each of them. I'll be selecting OCs based on their personalities and answers to their PM interview questions. If your OC is not accepted, it is highly likely that there is already another OC that has your submission's general personality.**

 ***If your OC makes it in, and is eliminated, do not get mad. Only one contestant can win after all, and that means 23 losers, and someone has to be voted out first.**

 ***Finally, once you submit your character to me, you are agreeing to give me full control of said character for this story.**

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Total Drama Nialasach OC App(also the first thing on my profile)

OC Name:

Sex:

Sexuality:

Label (or Stereotype):

Appearance(Just a general description of what they look like and what they wear normally, their personality is more important for this kind of story anyways):

Swimsuit(Again you can be general):

Sleepwear(Again you can be general):

Brief Background(I don't want a short story, just a paragraph or two at most):

Alignment:

Audition Tape(try to make this unique, and let it capture your OC's personality):

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 **The 9 Alignments _(For anyone who didn't previously know about them, or was unsure as to which alignment their OC would be):_**

 **Lawful Good(LG)** people can be counted on to do the right thing as expected by society. Zero Sum's **_Helen_** and **_Isaac_ ** are both good examples of Lawful Good.

 **Neutral Good(NG)** folk do the best they can to help others according to their needs. Zero Sum's **_Kaede_ ** or **_Hubert_ ** would be a good example of Neutral Good.

 **Chaotic Good(CG)** people act as their conscience directs, with little regard for what others expect. Zero Sum's **_Carys_ ** and **_Conlan_ ** would be good examples of Chaotic Good.

 **Lawful Neutral(LN)** individuals act in accordance with law, tradition, or personal codes. Zero Sum's _**Nublina** _ or _**Damon** _ would be a good example of Lawful Neutral.

 **True Neutral(N)** is the alignment of those who prefer to steer clear of moral questions and don't take sides. Zero Sum's _**Zastin** _ and _**Twilight** _ would both be good examples of True Neutral.

 **Chaotic Neutral(CN)** people follow their whims, holding their personal freedom above all else. Zero Sum's _**Artemis** _ and _**Peter** _ would be good examples of Chaotic Neutral.

 **Lawful Evil(LE)** people methodically take what they want, within the limits of a code of tradition, loyalty, or order. Zero Sum's _**Freya** _ or _**Victor** _ would be a good example of Lawful Evil.

 **Neutral Evil(NE)** is the alignment of those who do whatever they can get away with, without compassion or qualms. Zero Sum's _**Melody** _ or _**Oswald** _ would be a good example of Neutral Evil.

 **Chaotic Evil(CE)** individuals act with arbitrary violence, spurred by their greed, hatred, or bloodlust. I highly recommend avoiding this alignment.

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CAST LIST:

Males:

1: Mark-The Dreamer Musician

2: Aaron-The Skater Detective

3: Claude-The Sadistic Butler

4: Gabriel-The Politician's Son

5: James (Watts)-The Underestimated Nerd

6: Donny-The God Emperor

7: Simon-The Computer Whiz

8: Arnold-The Feminine Ball Buster

9: Zaiyrin-The Incorrigible Chessmaster

10: Phooko-The Innocent Smartass

11: Gran-The Unlucky Magician

12: Raul-The Silent Brawler

Females:

1: Ashley (Ash)-The Confident Klutz

2: Erin-The Scientist

3: Zaheen-The Illusionist

4: Monica-The Loud and Proud Strategist

5: Christa-The Selfless Mother

6: Rashi-The Oracle

7: Cherise (Cherry)-The Circus Girl

8: Mirai-The Two-Faced Warrior

9: Ellie-The Bubbly-Cute Cosplayer

10: Jenae-The Dedicated Bruiser

11: Vanessa-The Shy Artist

12: Alison-The Filthy Rich Chick


	2. Meet The Neo Screaming Winds!

_AN: In Survivor, the host gives his opinion on the members of the teams before the season starts based on the interviews he has with each contestant beforehand. I thought it would be fun to do something like that with the Nialasach Cast (Which is still missing it's last female OC by the way guys, that door is open). I'll be keeping the reveals of the contestants 'spoiler free' and just sort of gloss over their general personality, a couple of their strengths and weaknesses(not all of them mind you, I'm choosing to only include a few), what they signed up for TD for, and the problems I think they'll likely face as the game goes on. Hopefully it helps generate excitement. Anyways, let's start with the tame code named "Neo Screaming Winds" (The teams will be referred to in code names, as the winner of Total Drama Zero Sum will be naming the teams of this game when they make a cameo appearance in the first Nialasach Episode, so I'd rather not give the team names away, because they might spoil the Zero Sum winner)_

 _ **Neo Screaming Winds (Real Team Name TBA)**_

 **Claude-The Sadistic Butler:** "How endearing...I'll find a master here, I'm sure of it."

Claude finds immense pleasure in seeing people and animals hurt, in pain, bleeding, the works. He won't hurt people for that reason of course, though animals appear to be fair game for him to torture. He's joined Total Drama to find a brave, admirable master to serve...in more ways than just the traditional butler sense. Despite his unnerving eccentricities, Claude does believe in playing fair, and will be trying to keep his eccentricities to himself as he dislikes it when people are visibly upset or crying. Claude's strengths include, but are not limited to, one on one combat as well as cooking. The tradeoff for his skills is weak stamina and incompetent vision should he lose his glasses. Claude has the potential to make it far in the game and possibly even win, but that's assuming he doesn't creep the other contestants into voting him out first! For Claude, this will be a battle of just how well he can separate his guilty pleasures from his team and the other contestants. Can he pull through and find a master? Or will this butler only serve as elimination fodder? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Christa-The Selfless Mother:** "Seré la razón por la que estás sonriendo hoy(I can be the reason why you're smiling today)...But I can also be the reason why you're crying tonight."

Christa is an amazingly caring person. Unlike many, she isn't joining Total Drama to win or to get money, though she does think that scenario would be nice, but she is instead just auditioning to be herself and have as much fun as she can, in hopes of at the very least leaving as a fan favorite, which she very likely will. As her title suggests, she will likely attempt to take on a very motherly role for her team. That said, she also wouldn't mind beginning a relationship, and has an attraction for 'bad boys'. Christa's strengths include, but are not limited to, her fast running speed and her incredible skill at keeping composure. The tradeoff for her skills is a naivete that can easily be taken advantage of, and a terribly frightening side of her that appears if she _is_ ever pushed to the point of anger. Christa might be able to make it far into the game by doing nothing but being her kind and loving self, but she could just as easily fall into the clutches of another more manipulative contestant and become nothing more than an unknowing puppet. For Christa, this will be a test of perception and patience. Can she keep calm long enough to win it all? Or will she fall victim to some calculating villain? Only time will tell on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Donny-The God Emperor:** "People say I'm an idiot, uneducated, a racist. Wrong. It's all part of my game, and that game always ends the same. You. Will. Be. Crushed."

Donny is a competitor. He's a great competitor. All competitors wish they could be Donny. That is something Donny would say. Donny interestingly only accepted his own acceptance into the season provided the producers agreed that if he won, the series would be sold to him. Donny already is the heir to a large sum of money (far more than Total Drama would ever reward), and he is mostly here to boost his ego as he believes, neigh, knows in his heart, that he's going to win. Donny's strengths include, but are not limited to, according to him: his large reserves of money and the fact that people tend to flock to him. The tradeoff, also according to Donny, is that he understands that he is unlikeable, and that he is 'smart enough' to cheat. The game is a coin flip when it comes to Donny. He will either be a powerful antagonist and a force to reckon with, or will be one of the earliest eliminations, if not the first one out. There appears to be no middle ground with him. Can he do what so many before him have tried and failed to do, and win the game through sheer sleaziness? We'll find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Monica-The Loud and Proud Strategist:** "Be on my good side. If you're not, you might as well start packing."

Monica comes from a rather rough neighborhood, but is only that much stronger a player because of it. She's persuasive, quick-witted, and athletic, and is merciless towards her competition...Except when she isn't. Monica actually has trouble resisting an urge to help those in need. She's not above sabotaging challenges if it means someone else takes the blame, and her approach to the game is very straightforward. Monica's strengths include, but are not limited to, her silver tongue of persuasion and coercion, and her her physical athleticism. The tradeoff to those is her tendency to overthink her situations as well as a habit of getting unhealthily cocky should she see continued success, as pride cometh before a fall. Despite her ruthless approach to the game, Monica is aiming to win the money in order to help revitalize her town. For Monica, this will largely be a game of focus. She has the potential to go deep in the game, but only if she plays her cards right. Can she keep her eyes on the prize long enough to win it? Or will her focus slip when she sees a person in need, allowing for her competition to overtake her? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Simon-The Computer Whiz:** "These people might have a 'leg up' on me, so to speak... but that doesn't mean I'll be easy to take down."

Simon might have had to wear a prosthetic leg since birth, but it is clear that such a detail has largely unaffected his physical capabilities. Simon signed up for Total Drama as a game to play before he heads off to college, and should he win, he hopes to use some of the million for tuition money. Simon is introverted and takes time to warm up to others, but mentally, he has the capacity to be one of, if not the strongest player this season. Simon's strengths include, but are not limited to, his incredible knowledge of computers and programming, as well as his incredible strength for someone his size, which he owes to his years of wrestling. The tradeoff for his abilities is that Simon, plausibly due to his prosthetic leg, is physically slower than most, and he is incredibly introverted, which can make it a challenge for him to spend prolonged amounts of time socializing with his teammates and the other contestants. The biggest challenge Simon faces in this game is convincing others that his leg is not a hinderance, as well as making sure he establishes enough presence in his team to not get the boot if they lose. Simon could make it far, but he'll only make it as far as his nature will allow. Can he manage to make it all the way to the end? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Zaheen-The Illusionist:** "What the eyes see, and the ears hear...the mind believes."

Zaheen is in this show for the money, darling. She's going to use it mostly on herself and her family, as they could really use it. As her title suggests, Zaheen is a skilled illusionist, who has spent most of her high school years street performing to get some extra cash. She's incredibly excited to play Total Drama and is eager to learn all about every single other contestant. Every. Single. One. She's a mischievous and free spirit, as well as no fool, darling. She understands how cutthroat this game can be, and she plans to exploit that aspect when it comes to deciding who to vote off. Zaheen's strengths include, but, mind you darling, are not limited to, her incredible skills of persuasion, and her great puzzle-solving abilities. The tradeoff for those is that, as her body was trained to be dexterous rather than strong, she lacks much physical prowess, and even her inside is weak, as her body refuses to accept just about any food except the ones she likes. For Zaheen, her biggest challenge this game will be one of endurance, and one that could snuff out her flame prematurely, but should she succeed, she'll fly straight through the competition. Can she brace through the weather of Crios Cath, survive some of the more grueling challenges, and do so without making herself look weak to her team? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 _AN: And that's Neo Screaming Winds! Stay tuned to Total Drama Nialasach to see them in action!_


	3. Meet The Neo Killer Waves!

_**Neo Killer Waves (Real Team Name TBA)**_

 **Aaron-The Skater Detective:** "Whoa dude, this is going to be awesome! Time to see if my knowledge of the Nui Kaua trilogy will pay off!"

Aaron is a tremendous Total Drama fan, having seen everything from TDI all the way to Nui Kaua: The Cursed Island, and out of the Nui Kaua trilogy, Zero Sum was his favorite season to watch, as he looks up greatly to one of the contestants, viewing them as his idol. Aaron himself comes from a large family and has acquired a tremendous amount of useful skills, though his two greatest, as his title might indicate, are his powers of observation and his skateboarding abilities. The tradeoff for these however is that Aaron has always been rather naive and gullible, and tends to fumble over his words a lot, making public speaking a bit of an issue for him. While he's at his best, Aaron is a fun, joke-loving goofball who will be a joy to be around, while at his worst he is a bit of an awkward loner, and not quite as social as he would like to think he is. Aaron's greatest challenge when it comes to this game is just how well he can outsmart his opposition. If he manages to succeed, he could be on the fast track to a million dollars, but should an enemy of high mental prowess begin to oppose him, Aaron may find himself outdrawn by the competition. Can Aaron use his wit and creativity to win the cash prize, or will he fall short? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Mirai-The Two-Faced Warrior:** "They say there's nothing better than a little rush of adrenaline. Too bad for them, that's me 24/7!"

Mirai is a sweet and charming girl. When she has the attention of people anyways. If left to her own devices she becomes much more rambunctious and competitive, increasing in her ruthlessness and apathy towards others until she is finally the center of attention again, at which point she becomes the sweet and charming girl she once was as though nothing has happened. Her gentle attitude when she has attention is not a facade though, she genuinely has a heart and cares about others. She just gets a little upset when the cameras are not on her, so to speak. Puppies and boys are among her favorite things, while she also is quite fond of broccoli, and despite her personality, Mirai is not a fan of drama. She would much rather just have admiring attention and keep things that way. Mirai was signed up for Total Drama as a way to test her abilities, and her strengths include, but are not limited to a sharp wit as well as being greatly flexible. Her tradeoffs are that she is incredibly slow, physically, and that should she have a crush, which a girl like her almost definitely will, she won't be able to concentrate to save her life around them. For Mirai, this game is going to be a challenge of balance. The more she shows her ruthlessly competitive side, the kinder and sweeter she's going to need to be when she does have attention, otherwise she just might be booted off her team first. That said, should she manage to find her balance, she could concoct such an addictive personality that she makes it all the way to the end. Is Mirai's future one of fortune, or of failure? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Phooko-The Innocent Smartass:** "Alright~! It's time to give it the best I've got...Even if it is dealing with a bunch of dumbasses."

Phooko is the twin brother of Phooka and another cousin of Kaleaf, so of course he is familiar with the Nui Kaua trilogy. Phooko has signed up in order to say that he has also competed on Total Drama, but he does intend to win the money. Unlike his twin sister or his cousin, Phooko plans to actually socialize with his team, and put his rather cheery and innocent personality out there in an effort to avoid being voted off for lack of socializing. Phooko has a charming innocence about him that, unfortunately in this game, is very hard to keep a hold of, but Phooko isn't exactly naive either, and if he encounter someone he perceives as a threat, he has a whole slew of smartass remarks to give in order to get them eliminated. Phooko's strengths include, but are not limited to, his cheery words with the ability to raise the morale of his team, as well as his ability to remain calm and collected. Phooko's tradeoff however, other than his inability to give up, even when it's the safer option, is that he still very much has his innocence, and he likely won't be able to retain it for the whole game. The question is how he's going to deal with his eventual loss of it. Can Phooko's morals and effort push him to the finale, or will a greater evil than he expects swallow him whole? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Rashi-The Oracle:** "The bog is quiet today...too quiet. Something dangerous is approaching us."

Rashi is a self-proclaimed fortune teller. She reads palms, uses tarot cards, and observes the forces of nature to divine future events. She has an accuracy rating of 60% though, which is not ideal for someone who wants to make a business out of telling fortunes. She has only joined up for Total Drama as the seer she learned her fortune skills from divined that Rashi would find riches in the north, and Rashi took that to mean signing up for Total Drama Nialasach and heading north to Crios Cath. One would think as a fortune teller, that Rashi is calm and aloof but she is in fact the exact opposite. Rashi is very passionate and alert, which could serve as both a help during challenges and a hindrance during social interactions. Her strengths include, but are not limited to, having a green thumb and thus being able to grow just about any plant effectively, and an incredible endurance. The tradeoff for those is that Rashi is in fact very inflexible and stiff, as well as her unfortunate ability to rely on her predictions more than actual logic. For Rashi, this game will be one of luck or skill depending on how she views her fortune telling ability. Can she divine her way to victory, or will a false prediction of hers lead to an early elimination? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Raul-The Silent Brawler:** (The following is written on a piece of paper that has been shoved into a camera)"I laid broken fighting a force of nature...but it's time to get up and demand a rematch."

Raul is not silent by choice. In his past, he was caught in a terrible fire, and while he is not truly mute, it is hard for him to speak and he prefers to communicate through writing and sketching on a notepad. Raul is big, tough, and rather clever. He was signed up for Total Drama by his sister, but agreed to join in order to get his drive back and bring hope to the people of his poor town, as before his accident, he was a brawler capable of chasing entire gangs of thugs off the street. He still has his strength, but he hasn't quite been the same since the fire. While he would prefer to not be in charge of his team for...obvious reasons, he does plan to take part in any activities the team has planned, and perhaps even plan some himself. Raul's greatest strengths include, but are not limited to, his immense skill at intimidation as well as his mastery of sketching. The tradeoff for his abilities is some rather low stamina and equally low self-confidence, though he has come to this show to regain it. For Raul, this will largely be a game of courage vs comfort. He's going to have to put up with some very unpleasant and possibly painful situations that he may not think himself ready for if he wants to make it to the end of this game, but if he can find his drive, he will be one powerful force to be reckoned with! Can Raul rise up to the challenge, or will others force him to cry uncle? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Vanessa-The Shy Artist:** "Humans have always wanted superpowers, but see, here's the thing, I have a superpower...creativity."

Vanessa never exactly figured out how to correctly socialize with others, and has signed herself up for Total Drama in order to meet new people and perhaps finally figure herself out. She loves drawing and sketching and she tends to make small talk out of deep personal questions such as what one would do if they knew they were going to die the next day. Vanessa has a talent to divert or attract attention towards herself as she sees fit, and plans to use it to her advantage in the game. Venessa's strengths include, but are not limited to, her immense creativity as well as her gigantic reserves of energy from almost always getting plenty of rest. The tradeoff for her skills is that Vanessa, as her title suggests, is extremely shy, and she tends to always look on the negative side of things, which might cause a rare opportunity for her to slip by unnoticed. For Vanessa, this game will be nothing short of an adventure to find herself. But can she stay in the game long enough for such a thing to happen? If she does find herself, will she be able to change her gameplay to reflect her nature without ruining her chances of winning? Vanessa is a wild card, and to see what that card turns out to be, you'll have to stay tuned to Total Drama Nialasach!

 _AN: And that's the Neo Killer Waves! Stay tuned to Total Drama Nialasach to see them in action!_


	4. Meet The Neo Violent Quakes!

_**Neo Violent Quakes (Real Team Name TBA)**_

 **Arnold-The Feminine Ball Buster** : "You think you're better than her? Cocksuckers like you are who get sentenced to years of prison rape, you bitch!"

Arnold is...an odd one. When things are normal, Arnold is a somewhat nervous individual because of an anxiety disorder that he claims to have. The reason we say claims to have is because he is not afraid to roast the ever loving hell out of anyone who might be picking on female contestants. Arnold himself is very feminine and enjoys participating in Girls' Night Out activities as though he is one of them. Arnold has often been picked on at his old school, often being called gay even though he is not, and given some personalities already present in the cast and others yet to be introduced, Arnold may not be getting a break from that kind of treatment. Arnold's strengths include, but are not limited to, a talent for roasting others equal only to his skills as a cook. Arnold's tradeoffs are that he is all talk, and when it comes to physical violence, he is a pacifist, which is not the best thing to be in Total Drama, and besides engineering insults, Arnold is not very smart. For Arnold, this game will be one of survival and socializing with the correct people. On his own, Arnold likely won't make it very far in the game, but should he manage to play his cards right and align with a powerful alliance, he might surprise everyone by sneaking his way into the finale. Will Arnold be the Ball Buster he plans to be or will his own balls be the ones that are busted? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Ash-The Confident Klutz** : "I might be clumsy and a bit of a klutz… ….but don't think for a second that you can't beat me!"

Ash is a nice girl coming to this game to win the money for college, and she plans to win it through hard work and fair play. She plans to be herself socially, try her best at challenges, and vote off weak links in the team phase of the game and threats during the merge. Her approach is very enthusiastic and straightforward, and one that can get her far, provided that she minds one thing...She is without question the biggest klutz of the Nialasach cast. Ash's strengths include, but are not limited to, her overwhelming confidence, which can serve as a great motivator even in dire times for her team and might allow for them to take advantage of opportunities that the other teams might have too low a morale to notice, along with Ash's incredible endurance to damage, which she has built up from her years of being a klutz. The tradeoff to Ash's skills is, of course, her incredible klutziness that could prove fatal to her team's performance in challenges if she is unlucky, as well as Ash's inability to cook even the simplest dishes correctly. For Ash, this will be a game of poise. She has a likable enough personality to make it far, is modest enough to not appear as a threat to others, and is confident enough to surprise everyone as she wins challenges, but all of this is only provided that her klutziness doesn't get the better of her. Can Ash keep her klutziness from breaking her game plan in half? See what happens on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Gran-The Unlucky Magician** : "There is bad luck following me at every magic trick...So my next trick will be to make you all win."

Gran signed up for Nialasach for two reasons: To win the money and to get away from his family, whom he likes to call traitors. Gran performs magic tricks mostly to honor his deceased grandmother, who loved his magic tricks (When none of his family seemed to care about her passing, even at her funeral, Gran first began calling them traitors). Ever since however, Gran has suffered a terrible stroke of bad luck in which 50% of his magic tricks end as an utter catastrophe. Gran would much rather have an interesting team of comic and creepy people than a team of realists or whiners, and will most certainly not get along with anyone who does not believe in magic or aliens. Gran's strengths include, but are not limited to, his incredible speed, physically, as well as his ability to eat just about anything. Gran's tradeoff is that he is incredibly physically weak, and his almost cosmically decided unluckiness when it comes to his magic tricks. For Gran, this will be a game of perseverance. Can he rise atop of all the bullshit life throws at him and pull of the greatest trick of wall, actually winning this show? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Cherry-The Circus Girl** : "Huh, so this is it?...What an even bigger freak show than back home."

Cherry signed up for this show for two reasons, the money, and a goddamn break from her acrobatics stunts at her uncle's circus. Cherry is not what one expects from a performer. She's not bubbly, she's not optimistic. Rather, she is perpetually bored with easily annoyed by everyone around her. She finds amusement in pegging those with hubris down a notch, and often points out mistakes she sees in a sarcastic manner, though just seeing anyone embarrass themselves gives her great amusement. Despite her exterior however, Cherry is a decent human at heart and has great sympathy for those who have been ostracized, like herself, but she would likely never admit it. That's way too cliche a moment for her. Cherry is a bit of a perfectionist (though while she will call out the mistakes of others, doing things 'perfectly' only applies to herself), and will likely never truly be satisfied with the outcome of any given challenge, even if her team wins, unless everything went off without a hitch. Cherry's ideal team consists of people capable of pulling their own weight, as well as being void of attention-seekers and people who feel entitled to boss others(or at the very least, her) around. Some good looking people would be a plus as well, but that's not what this circus girl is here for. Cherry's greatest strengths include, but are not limited to, her obvious mastery of contortion and balance, as well as being observant to the point where subtle shifts in tone won't slip by her unnoticed. Her tradeoff is that academically, she knows far less than most of the cast, having left high school to perform in her uncle's circus, and her ability to underestimate just about everyone, as she often focuses only on a person's negatives. For Cherry, this game will be work. She'll need to work to make sure her team sees her not as a dry and sarcastic girl, but as a useful dry and sarcastic girl, and she can make it far in this game no problem, provided she doesn't end up angering the wrong enemies, which thanks to her underestimating others often, she just might. Can Cherry win it all, or will she just end up the side show to someone else's main act? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Zaiyrin-The Incorrigible Chessmaster** : "There's nothing my strategies haven't prevailed in...I'm level 100 and no one is my equal!"

Zaiyrin might be well known for his skill at chess, but don't let that fool you. He is also quite skilled with just about any zero sum game (the actual definition, his skill at Total Drama's version remains to be seen however). Zaiyrin is a strategist at heart, and according to him, his competing on Total Drama is only a small part of his main quest to become the ultimate strategist of the world. He isn't playing for the money, he's playing to win the game, and he is quite confident that he can do it. Since his audition, he's reviewed every episode of the original Zero Sum, making notes on how to survive on an island when you only have limited resources, what to expect from crafty villains, and what to expect from Chris. Zairyin despises villainous players, and has allegedly crafted a strategy that causes villains to play right into his clutches. He plans to emerge as the leader of his team, as he believes that he is the obvious choice for such a task, and will delegate roles in camp life and challenge to his teammates based on the skills he sees in them as well as the alignment he deduces that they are. Zaiyrin's strengths include, but are not limited to, a staggeringly high intelligence as well as being able to use the weight of any physical opponent against them thanks to his training in judo. Zaiyrin's tradeoff is that he is all around weak physically, he cannot take many hits before being incapacitated, and he can't lift more than 60 lbs without either getting help from someone else or hurting himself by tearing a muscle in the process. For Zaiyrin, the challenges that the producers come up with isn't his problem. Zaiyrin's biggest problem will be his social game. He is great at simulation video games, but thing about real life is that some of it just can't be simulated. Will Zaiyrin discover the ultimate winning strategy, or will he be in for a reality check that life and real people tend to work in unexpected ways? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Ellie-The Cosplayer** : "W-wow!...N-nice threads Chris, you look great. Where'd you get them?"

Ellie is a somewhat shy girl at first, but under her shy exterior is an intelligent and artsy girl who knows what she's doing when it comes to Total Drama. She's been a fan of the show for a while and has signed up to have some fun over the summer and to be pushed out of her comfort zone for a bit, as outside of her close knit groups of friends and cosplaying conventions, Ellie does not get out much, as she is a bit of a homebody. That's not to say she doesn't know how to socialize or anything of course, simply that going out and meeting new people makes her feel, at the very least, uncomfortable for a few minutes before she gets used to the situation. Ellie is more of a listener and follower than a leader, but we mean that only in the sense of challenges, as though she may be shy initially, she does have a strong grasp on who she is as a person, and is more than capable of forming her own opinions. If people, who are nice in any case, take the time to get to know Ellie, they will have gotten to know their greatest ally in the game, hands down, as she treasures her friends and remains stalwart in her loyalty to them. Ellie's strengths include, but are not limited to, being very skilled at riddles, guessing games, and word trivia, as well as being able to design and build things using the great dexterity of her artist hands. The tradeoff is that Ellie is terrible at heavy labor, and not the best when it comes to physical sports, as well as being an absolute wreck behind any vehicle's operating system. For Ellie, this game will actually be rather straightforward. If she manages to overcome her initial shyness quickly enough, and stay out of the clutches of any manipulative villains, she could easily make it far in the game, but should she not overcome her shyness in time, or should she fall into a villain's palm, she may be in for an early out. Will Ellie's decision to leave her comfort zone pay off in a good way, or will it cause her to remain a homebody for even longer after the fact? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!


	5. Meet The Neo Raging Flames!

**_Neo Raging Flames (Real Team Name TBA)_**

 **Gabriel-The Politician's Son** : "As Father once said, a good leader can make their team work together, but a great leader has their team's complete trust!"

You'd think the son of a politician would be deceitful and manipulative, as well as all too eager to rid on their parent's coattails. Should you think that, Gabriel is here to shatter your assumptions. This upstanding young man uses his father's position of privilege as a means for himself to work even harder to emerge as an honest and trustworthy leader. He intends to take control of his team by proving that he is a great planner and by earning everyone's complete trust. He'll be respectful to his enemies, but as the son of a politician, Gabriel is not naive. He is not one who can be taken advantage of easily. Gabriel is not here to win the money. He is here to prove, mostly to himself, that he can be a great leader, equaling, and perhaps even surpassing, the skills of his father. Gabriel plans to play the game with integrity. Gabriel's strengths include, but are not limited to, a natural charisma that the ordinary person just doesn't have when it comes to socializing, as well as an excellent ability of his to read people, often becoming privy to their true intentions within a matter of minutes. The tradeoff for Gabriel's skills is a weakness in performance under pressure, as he is much more used to having plans for everything, and as well as Gabriel can discern a person's intentions easily, he makes up for by not being able to read a room for the life of him, which could make him the unintentional causer of devastating drama should he be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Gabriel can make it far in this game, provided he succeeds in gaining the trust of his teammates and manages to lead them to challenge wins. If Gabriel manages to survive to the merge with a large alliance of trusting allies, he just might have this game in the bag, but this is all assuming he can accomplish his goal and not end up rubbing enough people the wrong way to get booted early on. Can Gabriel be the leader he wishes to be? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Alison-The Filthy Rich Chick** : "You losers better step aside now, because Alison Palmer's here to win it all!"

Alison didn't want to sign up for this stupid show, her dumb mom signed her up. However, she has since learned that not only will competing make her more famous the further she gets, but she will also be awarded one million dollars should she win the game. Alison describes herself as talented, beautiful, smart, and an interesting person, and to her credit, she is all those things. However, she would describe most other people as losers. Losers she has no use for on her team, that's for sure. She'd like to expend as little effort as possible in these dumb challenges, but she knows how to make it look like she's trying, often by finding a lackey to do her work for her. And don't think she won't retaliate hard if you decide to wrong her. If you do Alison a slight, she will crush you, ruin your name, and salt your fields. How dare you believe yourself to be able to talk to her in such a manner! Alison's strengths include, but are not limited to, her strategic mind, which when coupled with her spoiled attitude makes for a rather big problem indeed, as well as her superior flexibility that she has obtained through her dance classes. Alison's tradeoff is that there is next to no one on this great big world of ours that she could easily get along with, and furthermore, she tends to perceive any valid critiques as petty jealousy on the critic's part, thus only causing more tension between the two. Alison is starting this game in a very precarious position, and for her, it will most definitely be a game of strategy. For if she can find a way to survive the team phase, she might just flourish enough to make it to the finale. Can Alison use her complete bitchiness to her advantage or will it lead to her early elimination? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Mark-The Dreamer Musician** : "You know...there's no tomorrow...without today!"

Mark is a very outgoing and slightly carefree person who always tries to be relaxed and see the brighter side of things, whilst looking cool, or at least, what he believes is cool. Marks biggest ideals are the value of music, peace, freedom, and mutual understanding. However, likely thanks to the high emphasis he places on mutual understanding, he realizes that rules and traditions and the like exist for a reason and he accepts them with stride. Mark will constantly be writing down anything "cool" he hears while on the show to add in lyrics to songs that he writes and while his main instrument is the guitar, Mark is proficient with just about any instrument one could imagine. Mark is fine with just about anyone on his team, but he would enjoy spiritual people, free spirits, or other musicians the most. If there was one kind of person he wouldn't like on his team, it would be someone plainly evil or manipulative, or someone who was all work and no play. Mark is a socially nice, if a bit awkward person, and when it comes to challenges he will try his best...but only to a certain extent. If Mark believes a challenge may be too tough for him, he would sooner bail the challenge than try to face it for fear of failure. Mark's strengths include, but are not limited to, his incredible skill as a musician, as well as his incredible patience and moderation when listening to other people speaking. Mark's tradeoff is that he is, by his own admittance, not very smart, and he cannot tell a convincing lie to save his life. For Mark, this will be a game of friendships and forfeits. If his personality can outshine his willingness to give up on challenges he thinks are hard, he may just make it far in this game, but if he forfeits one challenge too many, he may find himself on the wrong end of the final medallion at an elimination ceremony. Can Mark rock his way to the top? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Erin-The Scientist** : "Anything is possible...as long as there's a genius at the helm."

Erin is a genius scientist and inventor for her age. Even at her age, she's made clever and advanced things as well as exciting discoveries. She's dedicated her whole life to improving the field of science...under any circumstances. She's done and will continue to do awful things for the sake of her research and experimentation, justifying the actions by the ends of the means being the improvement of science. She does not plan to halt her experiments on Nialasach and does not under any circumstances want to be interrupted while she is experimenting. Being a scientist, she loves not knowing and learning new things, but she still will believe, possibly not even incorrectly, that she is smarter than everyone else on the show. Erin is willing to manipulate, blackmail, backstab, lie, cheat, and still in order to win this money, because she's using it for a good cause, the betterment of science, unlike these other hormone filled teens who will likely only use the prize for something selfish. Erin tries her hardest to be an unfeeling machine, and to many, it would look like she's succeeded. Her strengths include, but are not limited to not only her incredible academic prowess, but her wit as well. She is always thinking 3 steps ahead of her opponents. The tradeoff is, for one, an ego the size of the Sun, as well as a tendency to get so into her work that she exhausts sometimes too easily. Erin's game is going to be one of surprises, as she has made it clear she thought this whole event would be scripted, and she'll be in for a wild ride when she finds out that it's not. Can Erin manage to not piss her team off enough to out her first and make it to the end? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Watts-The Underestimated Nerd** : "Back home, I'm a nobody always stuck in the shadows...I'm tired of being held back. Time to show the world what nerds can do!"

James "Watts" Watkins has signed up onto this show to prove that not all nerds are uncool, and are more than capable to rise up and be kings for once! He wants people who will try their hardest to make the team succeed on his team, and is not going to accept anyone who bitches and moans and uses popularity as an excuse to rule either. He's been exposed to the popularity hierarchy enough and he's damn tired of it! He plans to use the money to help stabilize his family as well as kickstart his rock album, though he's not yet sure whether it will be a solo or band effort. Watts has seen Zero Sum, this season's spiritual ancestor, and was inspired by the likes of Hubert and Zastin, watching every day in hopes that either one would win, and you can see it shine through in his approach to this game, where he is going to play his ass off, stick to his convictions throughout the game, and certainly won't be afraid to make big moves. He's smarter than most people would think he is, and he plans to use that to his advantage! Watts's strengths include, but are not limited to, his near-genius level brilliance as well as his incredible singing voice. The tradeoff is that Watts is definitely not the strongest or fastest person on the planet, and can easily lose confidence if he is surrounded by peers that don't accept him. For Watts, this will be a game of perception and patience. He could go quite far in the game if he manages to play his cards right. Can he identify the right times to make the right moves while making sure his peers don't lower his confidence to the point of elimination? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach!

 **Jenae-The Dedicated Bruiser** : "Step up to me if you want...but be prepared to be knocked back down brutally!"

Jenae signed up for Total Drama because she came to win, and is not letting anyone beat her in this. She's seen past seasons and enough strategies to get her through this full saddle. She's not letting anyone slow her down. She'll be in control of everything and the entire game will be in her favor...at least that's what she'll tell you, and should you disagree with her be prepared to *ahem* learn about how wrong you truly are. Jenae only wants one kind of person on her team. The kind of person that is there to win, and get down to the point and core. She doesn't have time for goofy mimics or clowns like those flops from previous seasons. She believes this game needs someone willing to win in the most dedicated manner: her. Jenae's main strategy in this game is to get people to trust her. Will she trust them back? Hellllll no! She's not an idiot and she doesn't want to deal with anyone else's bullshit. She simply wants their support so that she isn't ever targeted to be voted off and has a small group of allies to control systematically as she sees fit. Her strategies for challenges is simple as well: Win them. If she wins every challenge, she can't be voted out after all. During the team section, she'll be looking to get rid of the weaklings first, but during the merge, she plans to focus solely on self-preservation. Let everyone else fend for themselves. If things look dire, make another contestant seem like a bigger threat. Jenae's strengths include, but are not limited to, her excellent skill at intimidation as well as her athletic prowess. The tradeoff is that she has a very short fuse when it comes to her temper, as well as her nearsightedness. For Jenae, this game will be nothing short of a 24-person competition. Can her clever and ruthless approach bring her to the top of the charts, or will her temper betray her intentions and send her to the Tomb of Shame? Stay tuned to Total Drama Nialasach to find out!

 _AN: And that's all 24 contestants. Who will win the million dollars? Find out on Total Drama Nialasach! Starting whenever I finish Zero Sum._


	6. Ep 1: Dia Dhuit Crios Cath! (Part 1)

**WARNING: IF YOU DON'T WANT ZERO SUM SPOILED FOR YOU, BINGE READ IT NOW, BECAUSE IT'S WINNER IS ANNOUNCED AND APPEARS IN THIS CHAPTER!(If you don't care, you can ignore this warning)**

* * *

 **AN: I'd like to just say, before we begin, that this season's theme song has to be my favorite theme song that I've written so far.**

 **I'd also like to say, going into this, that I very much liked absolutely every character I received for this story, even the ones I wasn't able to accept. That's why, I ask of you to please not feel like I didn't like your character if they get an early elimination. Each early elimination generally falls into one of two categories: I couldn't think of a worthwhile plot for them ~OR~ A separate character had a plot that I thought would make for a more interesting story focus. And remember, someone does have to be the first player voted out.**

 **One final thing, just like in Zero Sum, no characters will be 'returning' to the game later on. It's semi-straight shooting all the way to the finals.**

* * *

"Welcome to Crios Cath!" Chris McLean, the host of Total Drama announced as he stood atop one of many small mountains in a mountain range on the island in the northern Pacific Ocean.

"Thanks to all our Nui Kaua seasons, we've managed to secure a whole new island, and what better way to celebrate the purchase than with an homage to the season that saved our show and began the Nui Kaua trilogy, Total Drama Zero Sum? That's right! We're bringing 24 brand spanking new campers here to do one of our toughest forms of Total Drama competition all over again! But first, a little bit about the island!"

* * *

 _About Crios Cath_

"Crios Cath is larger than Nui Kaua was, and is almost perfectly hexagonal in shape. In the northeast of the island, are the mountains I am currently standing on! They're known as the Cloch Mountain Range! Heading south towards the middle of the east side of the island we have the Glas Woods, a forest teeming with all manner of wildlife! Encompassing the southern border of the island we have the Cailleach Bog! That's right, this island's home to large swamp!, in the middle and northern areas of the west part of island we have the Lower and Upper Ceol Fields. The Lower Ceol Fields are home to many grazing sheep, horses, cows, and other animals, while the Upper Ceol Fields are known to be perfect for farming plants like wheat, carrots, potatoes, cabbages, you name it! Finally, in the north, separating the Cloch Mountain Range from Upper Ceol Field, we have the Neart Highlands, a collection of hills and plateaus, which is also home to the Nialasach Ruins, which were home to the ancients who once called this island home! The entirety of Crios Cath is surrounded by a thin beachline, but the ocean waters are rough and crash against the rocky shores constantly, so any beach activities may not be in our campers' best interests. Finally, in the center of Crios Cath is the Ionad Desert, where the elimination ceremonies of each round of competition will be located at the dread Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremonies, where all but one contestant present will receive a Crios Cath Medallion! The player that does not receive a Medallion must enter the Tomb of Shame adjacent to the bonfire pit, and can say goodbye to all their hopes of winning this show!"

The camera then cuts to Chris holding up 4 different colored medals of white, blue, green, and red respectively.

"If a contestant is lucky, they may find the clues to a hidden team-based Immunity Medal, which only an original member of their team can play. Those suckers kept the game going all over the place back on Zero Sum, so there's no way we'd lose them here! Finally, as one last homage to Zero Sum, we'll not only be basing every single challenge off the contestant eliminated in that place, but those contestants designed the challenges themselves! Who knows, a few may even involve themselves personally in their challenges! Now that we've got all that out of the way...it's time to start a brand new island trilogy here on Crios Cath! It's time to begin…

Total!  
Drama!

Niiiiiiiiialasach!"

* * *

*Total Drama Theme Song Plays*

As the song starts, various camera come out of the flora and fauna all around the island.

 _ **Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine, you guys are on my mind**_

The camera zooms around all of Crios Cath before finally entering into the Nialasach Ruins.

 _ **You asked me what I wanted to be and now I think the answer is plain to see,**_

Aaron is on his skateboard, skating through the ruins, and as he moves forward, Claude can be seen following him, cleaning up the dust left by his skateboard tracks so that he can clear a path for Monica, who smiles at him, but ends up rolling her eyes, annoyed, when she's sure he isn't looking, and begins to pay attention to another part of the ruins, which the camera then shifts to.

 _ **I wanna be famous**_

Watts is looking over Erin's shoulder at an experiment she is working on, and she seems to be attempting to hide it from him, when the ruins wall explodes, causing Erin to fall back into Watts's arms before shoving herself out of them, the two then look over to see that the explosion was caused by Ash accidentally triggering a tripwire. She smiles and waves in an attempt to make the situation less embarrassing for her.

 _ **I want to live close to the sun**_

Camera switches to show Alison sitting on a beach chair and relaxing before waves come crashing in and ruin her clothes. She stands up with a huff and takes the beach chair further inland, but the same event happens, and she appears to let out a scream.

 _ **Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won**_

Camera shifts up to reveal that Simon and Arnold both saw Alison's ordeal, and while Simon starts to snicker at it, Arnold begins to flamboyantly tell Simon off, and Simon plugs his ears and walks away with rolling eyes.

 _ **Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day**_

Camera shifts to Upper Ceol Fields, where Zaiyrin is seen showering Cherry with all manner of gifts and compliments, and Cherry somewhat scoffs at them before blushing with a smile once Zaiyrin leaves and heading over to Ellie to talk excitedly with her about it while Ellie is working on a costume.

' _ **Cause I wanna be famous**_

Rashi and Phooko both see the events with Zaiyrin, Cherry, and Ellie, and quietly laugh to each other as they both tend to a small garden of growing plants, with Phooko's plants looking quite healthy, and Rashi's plants looking unnaturally perfect.

 _ **Na na nananana nanananana na nanananana**_

Camera shifts to the Glas Woods, where Raul and Vanessa are sketching each other with smiles. Camera first hovers over Raul's shoulder showing a brilliantly done sketch of Vanessa, then switches over to Vanessa's shoulder, where a sketch of Raul can be seen, but Vanessa needs to keep adding wolves to the sketch as they crowd around Raul like he's part of their pack.

 _ **I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous**_

Mark is playing music in Cailleach Bog, but immediately rolls out of the way of a falling tree, he looks over to see an almost seething Mirai, who turns to him and begins to smile sweetly as she begs him to play. Mark is a little nervous at first but as he begins to play, Mirai begins to cheer peacefully as the camera shifts to Lower Ceol Fields.

 _ **I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous**_

In Lower Ceol Fields, Donny and Gabriel are engaged in a rather heated argument, and Christa and Jenae both walk up to Donny and Gabriel respectively, Christa tries to comfort Donny, but he begins arguing with her instead. Meanwhile, Jenae begins to continue to argue with Gabriel, but he stops her when he notices she's moving her hand down his chest.

As the other contestants whistle the rest of the tune around the Tine Naofa Bonfire, Gran and Zaheen both attempt to make the fire grow larger. Upon Gran's attempt the fire blows up in his face, causing Zaheen to snicker as she pulls off the trick perfectly and the flames begin to from the season title: Total Drama Nialasach

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins_

 _Contestant(s); All(Will get here eventually)_

"Um...do I have to do this?" A voice behind the camera asked.

"Yes, you have to!" Chris responded seriously. "Or are you telling me that holding a camera steady is too much work for you?"

"It's not that it's...Oh nevermind. I'll be quiet now."

"Yes. Yes you will." Chris said, before collecting himself and looking into the camera with a smile.

"It's been a full year since Total Drama Zero Sum!" He announced. "And in that year, we've made tons of money! And to celebrate our success, we've got an homage season planned to kick off a new trilogy of Total Drama centered here on this island of Crios Cath! Now let's meet our 24 suckers- I mean _contestants_ , of whom only one will win the million dollar grand prize! Here comes our first boat now!"

The first boat pulled into the dock and three contestants stepped off of it, two male, one female.

The first male contestant walked up to Chris. He was of Hawaiian descent and had tan skin, as well as gold colored eyes and brown cornrows. He wore a peach and grey sports tank top on his torso, orange cargo shorts on his legs, silver bangles on both his wrists, a red fedora on his head, and covering his eyes was a pair of circular thick rimmed black glasses.

"Arnold!" Chris announced as he rose a hand for a high-five.

Arnold flinched, before realizing what was going on.

"There's _no_ way I'm going to touch _your_ hand." He spoke as he moved his head around before snapping at the end of his sentence. "Who _knows_ how contagious your obnoxiousness is."

 **[Arnold Drake Franklin-The Feminine Ball Buster]**

"Thank you...Arnold…" Chris said as Arnold walked further inland.

* * *

Confessional: Chris

"It's going to be one of _those_ seasons, isn't it?"

End Confessional

* * *

"Christopher McLean." The other male contestant said as he walked up to him and bowed. "Allow me to express my deepest and most sincere gratitudes for having me on your show."

He was tall, skinny, and handsome. His somewhat long and spiky hair with various tufts that pointed from his head was black with blue highlights, and styled in both sides of his face, with no strands of any bangs falling in his forehead. His eyes were golden and sharp behind a pair of thin glasses, and he was dressed in a dark tailcoat suit with a golden brooch shaped like a spider on his chest, and his hands rested in white gloves.

"The pleasure is all mine, Claude." Chris grinned as Claude took a firm upright stance when he stood next to Arnold, humming to himself quietly as he smiled squished a centipede under the sole of his shoe, occasionally stopping to take pleasure in its wriggling in pain.

 **[Claude Lockheart-The Sadistic Butler]**

"And that means you must be Rashi!" Chris turned to the female contestant who had stepped off the boat. She was a rather hardy girl of average height with long red hair and matching dark red eyes. Her face was covered in freckles. She was wearing a green and brown gardening outfit as she walked up to Chris.

"That's right!" Rashi replied. "The winds are pleasant and calm today, they're giving me the message of my team's victory."

 **[Rashi O'Malley-The Oracle]**

"Let's not bet on that until we have our teams, Rashi." Chris grinned as he looked over at another boat coming in, this ones dropping off three boys.

The first one was a muscular, tan-skinned boy of around average height. He had dark brown medium length hair that rested atop his head and his two beady dark brown eyes. He was wearing a red T-shirt, light blue jeans, and a grey windbreaker.

"Simon!" Chris announced. "Nice to have you here man!"

"The island seems relaxing enough for now." Simon nodded. "It'll be a nice break from my classes at UCLA."

 **[Simon Telamon-The Computer Nerd]**

"Ah, we have a scholar amongst us." Claude observed. "What field of profession are you pursuing exactly?"

"I'm _already_ developing software for third party apps." Simon responded as he joined the rest of the competition.

"And you must be Mark Galaxy!" Chris announced as he turned to one of the two remaining boys who had stepped off the boat. He was quite tall with a moderately athletic build, and his caucasian skin was slightly tanned from time in the sun. He had a mane of long messy chocolate brown hair that reached his knees and covered up part of the left of his expressive dark brown eyes as well as his forehead. His face was smooth and somewhat handsome save for a small scar under his right eye. He wore a black T-shirt with a print of a yellow star on its chest and yellow letters spelling "GALAXY" along the back of the shirt, along with a pair of worn-out blue jeans and sandals instead of shoes. He also had his right hand, and part of his right forearm covered in a bandage.

"I am indeed Mark Galaxy!" Mark replied as he took out a guitar and strummed it. "There's no tomorrow without today, and today is such a beautiful one that I can't help but feel tomorrow will be even brighter!"

 **[Mark-The Dreamer Musician]**

"Now _that_ is some optimism!" Chris grinned.

* * *

Confessional: Chris

"Let's see how long it'll take for us to break it, eh-huh-huh."

End Confessional

* * *

The final boy off the boat stepped forwards. He had dark caramel skin, and almond-shaped dark brown eyes. His dark auburn brown hair was tied in a low banana tail that reached down to his mid-back area. He was of a roughly average height with a slightly muscular build and was wearing a light moss-green shirt with a red flower design on it, though as wind blew by, the others realized the flower design was made with real petals, and on his legs he was sporting black cargo shorts and black shoes.

"Alright." He said. "Chris, my very first goal is to make it past episode 2, because both my twin sister and cousin couldn't freaking do that. That said, I'm probably the smartest of the three of them, so I don't see myself making the same dumb mistakes that they did." He turned to the other contestants. "The name's Phooko, guys. I hope we can have a fun competition!"

 **[Phooko Hume-The Innocent Smartass]**

"Ayyy!" Rashi pointed with a smile. "Love your shirt, bro!"

"Thanks!" Phooko smiled. "It's-"

*Honk!* Another boat pulled up to the island and let off two boys and and a girl.

"Gran, Zaheen, Gabriel!" Chris exclaimed. "Glad you all could make it!"

Gran, a contestant with a slim build, long red hair, and amber eyes, dressed in a black shirt, red tie, and black jeans walked up to Chris. The most striking thing about him, was that he appeared to be soaking wet.

"Gran, buddy, how did you-?"

"Look...I don't know _why_ you decided to put me on the same boat as _her_." He pointed over to Zaheen who was completely dry. "But could you do me a favor and not put me on the same team as her?"

"Teams aren't decided by me, this time, my dude." Chris shrugged with smile. "But here." He held up a towel. "Dry off and join the others."

 **[Gran Rey-The Unlucky Magician]**

"Don't feel too bad about it darling," Zaheen called to Gran as she stepped up to Chris. "We all have those unfortunate accidents during our shows every once in awhile. I'm merely the exception that proves the rule." She was of average height and a slim and lean build, had a tan skin tone, as well as dull green eyes and a medium length black pixie cut. She was dressed in a white long-sleeved button up shirt with the sleeves pulled down to her elbows, with a black button vest overtop. She sported blue skinny jeans with black dress shoes, and wore a black fedora with an Ace playing card on the side of it. "Chris, it's wonderful to be here, darling. Surely this will be a show worthy of spectacle, and I do intend to entertain."

 **[Zaheen Bakshi-The Illusionist]**

"Just as long as your entertainment doesn't cause any problems, we'll be fine then." Gabriel announced as he stepped forwards. He was tall and lean, had short black hair and green eyes, and was wearing a black unzipped hoodie with a blue t-shirt, black ripped skinny jeans, and black and blue running shoes. "We should all make an effort to keep this competition a classy one."

 **[Gabriel Peterson-The Politician's Son]**

"A classy competition indeed is something I can agree with." Claude nodded.

"As long as classy doesn't mean boring, I can agree to that." Rashi nodded as well.

"Enough chitchat from you guys." Chris said as another boat pulled in and three girls stepped off of it. The first girl had long, shiny black hair in loose curls that reached her mid-back, and looked at the other arrivals so far with her pale blue eyes as she rose one of her pale white hands to fiddle with the diamond necklace she was wearing. She was dressed in a black, sleeve-length lace blouse, black skinny jeans, and black high heeled boots.

"Glad to see we're on an even lamer island than your last one, McLean." She spoke with a lingering British accent.

 **[Alison Palmer-The Filthy Rich Chick]**

"Perhaps you can just make the million dollar check out to me now, and we can skip all the unpleasantries."

"Now see," Gabriel turned to the other contestants. "This is the type of behavior that I wanted us to avoid. My father is a politician, and he could tell you firsthand that having a clean and classy approach to anything makes one appear far more charismatic."

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel

"I'm aware that telling people about my father's profession right out of the gate is a disadvantage, as well as the fact that I've never seen Zero Sum like an estimated 2/3rd of these competitors have. However, if I don't play this game honestly, then there's no point to playing it at all, and it will be that much sweeter when I finally do win the million."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Alison

"Did I just hear him say is father was a politician? Cha-ching! Hello loaded sucker of a new boyfriend!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Oh, I'm so sorry." She put a hand to her mouth as she turned to Gabriel. "I'm simply a little perturbed is all. My mum was the one to sign me up for the show, so I am not here entirely of my own will. I'm sure you of all people can understand a parent a little too concerned with their profession to have enough time to spend with you."

"My father and I love each other very much anyways." Gabriel shrugged. "And I understand why he might be busy most of the time."

"As do I." Alison responded. "However, that doesn't mean I don't feel lonely at times. I'm sure you can relate to that."

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel

"She's lying. She's trying to trick me into doing something, I know it. You don't grow up a politician's son and not develop a nose for deceit."

End Confessional

* * *

"Sure." Gabriel shrugged before pointing at the scene before everyone. "Hey look!"

"Hey, watch it!" One of the girls remaining said to the other one as she moved away from her.

Everyone looked to see that the other girl had tripped over a rock and fallen onto the ground.

She was rather tall, and lightly tanned with green eyes, and had black hair that went down to her mid-back. She wore a white button down shirt with a blue jacket, blue jeans, and white running shoes.

"Everything's fine!" She exclaimed as she stood up. "It was just a trip, don't worry about it! Anyways, it's nice to meet all of you! The name's Ash!

 **[Ashley "Ash" Lexington-The Confident Klutz]**

"I'm frankly surprised you tripped while both your running shoes were tied." Phooko jokingly teased. "Is klutziness a common genetic trait in your family?"

"Hey!" Arnold looked at Phooko. "You think you're better than her? Cocksuckers like you are who get sentenced to years of prison rape, you _bitch_!" He closed off his roast with a snap of his fingers and bob of his head.

"Oh, go crawl back into whatever corner of tumblr you crawled out of for this show." Alison argued back at Arnold. "He clearly wasn't serious when he said that, any moron could notice it."

* * *

Confessional: Phooko

"And as someone whose bisexual, I'm not sure how I feel about being called a cocksucker, especially when _he's_ the overtly flamboyant one. Projecting much?"

End Confessional

* * *

"Tsk. Everything's _not_ fine." the final girl said as she dumped the contents of a flask into the water, causing the water to catch fire. "That's the first and hopefully _only_ experiment to be ruined on this dumb show."

The other contestants all watched as she walked up towards Chris. She was caucasian and tall but skinny, with straight, long black hair, and green eyes. A lab coat covered her full body, though it was unbuttoned revealing a black t-shirt, tan pants, and black shoes. She held out a hand to Chris.

"Hand me the script, and let's get this over with."

"Sorry Erin." Chris smiled. "No script to be had, and you've just made a fool of yourself on international television!" He pointed directly to the camera. "Take a looksie!"

 **[Erin Walker-The Scientist]**

Erin turned and looked somewhat above the camera. "Why is-?"

"Now, away with you, towards the others!" Chris shoved her away towards the rest of the contestants as another boat pulled up to the island and a boy and two girls got off of it.

The boy seemed the most excited to be at the island and on the show. He was quite tall and lanky, tough he had some muscles, and he had a tanned skin tone. Behind his square lensed black Ray-Ban's and under his right eye was a scar that took the shape of the stitches on a baseball. He wore a blood-red T-shirt with a Dr. Pepper logo smack dab in the center of it, along with stonewashed blue jeans, yellow under armor sneakers, a black Baltimore Orioles snapback worn normally on top of his head, and a pair of dog tags around his neck.

"Hey, Chris! Great to be here!" He smiled. He turned to the other contestants, and his smile faded to an axious look.

"And, uh, hello to all of you. I'm James Watkins, but I'd prefer you call me Watts. I hope we can all get along."

 **[James "Watts" Watkins-The Underestimated Nerd]**

* * *

Confessional: Watts

"Whew...okay, so actually being here is a little intimidating. But! I probably just need a little time to adjust. I'm sure no sane person wouldn't be feeling at least a little nervous."

End Confessional

* * *

James turned and also looked above the camera, as Erin had done earlier. His eyes widened. "Hey, aren't you-?"

"We've got a recognizing fan." Chris said into a walkie talkie. "Chef, I repeat, we've got a recognizing fan."

In the blink of an eye, Chef was behind Watts and cupped his hand over the nerd's mouth.

"You won't tell anyone who that is, or you'll forfeit the game, understand boy?"

Watts nodded, understanding all too well.

"Heyyy everybody~!" One of the girls said as she stepped forward with a charming and almost heart-melting smile. She had long almond colored hair that fell to her back and curled at the tips. She had big blue eyes, and a peachy skin tone with tan lines. She was wearing a white sundress with red polka dots that went down to her thighs, red flip flops, a red ribbon on the back of her head, and her lips were coated in a light pink lipstick.

"My name's Mirai, and it's so great to be here! I can't wait for the competition to start!"

 **[Mirai Endimion-The Two-Faced Warrior]**

"Glad to have you here, Mirai." Chris grinned. "Go join the others!"

Mirai looked towards the camera as she went to go join the others. Her eyes moved above it and she cupped her mouth to hide a squeal of joy before hurrying to where everyone else was.

* * *

Confessional: Mirai

"Because I am going to beat everyone into the dust and win this thing! *Ahem* I apologize, that was rude of me, but they _are_ all going down heehee!"

End Confessional

* * *

With that, the other girl finally began to step forward. She looked around nervously at the island and at everyone, but as she saw Chris, her worry faded a little. She was short and petite and thinly fit. She had barely a "B" cup bust size. Her long legs and scrawny arms made up for her short stature while pertaining a tiny torso, and she had very fair skin. She had short, curly, strawberry blonde hair that was fashioned into the cut of a bob tucking just underneath her ears. Her bangs were short and wavy and fell around her large doe-like blue-grey eyes with long lashes. She wore a deep purple off-the-shoulder sweater, revealing one of the straps of her pale pink camisole top underneath. She had a golden heart chained necklace around her neck and several red and purple bangles on her wrists. She also wore a set of large pink stars. On her legs were light blue mini-shorts with black and white music notes on the stockings she wore underneath them. On her feet she wore black mary janes platforms.

"Welcome to the show Ellie!" Chris exclaimed.

Fighting the shyness and the butterflies in her belly, Ellie nervously replied. "W-wow, nice threads Chris, you look great. Where did you get them?"

"Had them made for me by my own personal tailor." Chris smiled. "When you're as high up in the business as I am, you get almost a personal everything, now go join the others, another boat is coming."

 **[Ellie Woods-The Bubbly-Cute Cosplayer]**

As Ellie went to nervously join the others, another boat pulled up to the island, this time letting off four contestants, three girls and a boy.

The first of the girls walked forwards, silently eyeing everyone else. She had long shoulder-length auburn hair, fair skin, prominent green eyes, and a somewhat curvy build, and was dressed in a grey hoodie with cargo shorts and green converse.

"Hey everybody!" She smiled. "The name's Monica, and I hope you all came to play to win! I sure did!"

 **[Monica Sanders-The Loud And Proud Strategist]**

Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "Another one." He mumbled.

"There isn't a problem is there?" Monica asked innocently to Gabriel.

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel

"Shit, she has some good hearing. I better watch out around her."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Monica

"This is a message for you, tall boy with black hoodie. Be on my good side. If you're not, you might as well start packing."

End Confessional

* * *

"Thank you for the introduction Monica." Chris smiled as he ushered Monica towards the others. Monica smiled back at Chris before making a 'blech' motion with her mouth once he was no longer looking at her.

Instead, Chris was looking at another of the girls that had stepped off the boat.

She had smooth bright maple skin with a nice warm glow, wide hips with a nice bottom, and decently shaped breasts. She had a red velvet medium layered haircut, and a clear parting on the right side of her temple. Her gorgeous face was makeup-less save for her red lipstick. She wore bright blue skinny jeans that showed off her lower body figure and the button settled just under her belly button, while her torso sported a long sleeve white shirt with a giant 'x' logo from her left shoulder to right hip, as well as from her right shoulder to left hip. She wore white sneakers and had a white thick hoop earring.

"Hello all." She introduced herself politely. "The name is Jenae. That's all for now."

* * *

Confessional: Jenae

"Because there is no way I'm letting any of these people get to know me before I get a read on them first. The second I stepped off the boat my game started. Anyone who hasn't felt the same way has already lost."

 **[Jenae Brooks-The Dedicated Bruiser]**

End Confessional

* * *

"Thank you Jenae." Chris smiled as Jenae joined the others and he turned his attention to the one boy who had stepped off the boat.

"Aaron, did you enjoy the ride?"

"Please don't make fun of my motion sickness, Chris, come on." Aaron smiled as he shook Chris's hand and bumped fists with him. "But I guess aside from the discomfort is was a slow ride and I was able to take it easy." Aaron had neck length light brown spiky and messily combed hair, his round eyes were a bright navy blue in color with a hint of silver in them, he had a pale-caramel skin tone and was quite built, with broad shoulders and what looked like an eight pack, along with a scar over his right eye. He wore an unbuttoned black trench coat, a red t-shirt with a blue lightning bolt on it, faded dark blue jeans that were ripped, showing his knees, along with chains, white socks, red and black converse sneakers, blue fingerless gloves, an orange baseball cap with a green skull on it, and a shark tooth necklace.

"I'm surprised you know that song, bro." Chris replied. "It's an old one."

"Hey, the oldies are the goldies." Aaron chuckled. He looked over at Watts and his eyes flickered to the dog tags.

"I'm sorry for your loss bro. Must be really tough on your family. I've been there. Well, not exactly, but I understand the pain of losing a family member."

 **[Aaron Winston-The Skater Detective]**

"Th-thanks man." Watts responded, somewhat dumbstruck. "The name's Watts."

"Aaron." Aaron replied. "And bro, did you catch the person behind that camera? Is that who I think it is?"

"I think it is." Watts nodded.

"Enough with the chit-chat!" Chris snapped before turning to the final contestant to step off the boat.

"Christa, glad to see you! Love your name by the way."

"Thank you, very much!" Christa blushed slightly, speaking with a slightly noticeable Spanish accent. She had a tan skin tone and a delicate yet pretty physical body stature with even breasts and butt. She had brown latte hair in a pixie cut, small ears, and a gorgeous face with hazel eyes and full lips, and she was somewhat short compared to most of the other contestants, save for Ellie.

She wore black leggings and black adidas sports shoes. She also wore a black hoodie that was a bit baggy along with a silver locket necklace.

 **[Christa Perez-The Selfless Mother]**

"Buenos dias to all of you." She smiled at the competition. "My name is Christa, as Chris here has just said, and I love poetry, cooking, and comforting others. I hope we can all get along!"

* * *

Confessional: Jenae

"Yeah, no, wayyy too nice for me to take you seriously. Sorry not sorry."

End Confessional

* * *

Another boat pulled in as Christa took her place among everyone else and four more contestants got off. Two boys and two girls. The first of the boys strode forward confidently. He was tall with an overall slim build and rather pale skin. His black hair had plum colored highlights and was styled in spikes to look somewhat like a lion's mane. His grey eyes scanned the other contestants and he nodded to himself. "Yep. I've made it at least to the halfway point already." He wore a dark grey tank top and an unbuttoned black trench coat without sleeves that split at his lower back and had a large collar that stuck outwards, revealing the pure white color of its inner linings. He also wore a plum colored scarf that was wrapped around his neck and hung down to his stomach. He was wearing a violet colored glove on his right hand and had white bandages wrapped around his left elbow. On his legs he wore straight black jeans and grey slip on shoes.

"Zaiyrin." Chris announced. "You think so huh?"

 **[Zaiyrin Yanagi-The Incorrigible Chessmaster]**

"It isn't a matter of thought, it is a matter of skill, and I counted enough villains among those already here that I'll certainly be able to find one to leash."

He turned to the other contestants. "You know who you are, villains! You aren't going to be running _this_ game, because I live and breathe strategy, and I will stop you!"

* * *

Confessional: Monica

"Oh, we'll see about that, ani-meme."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Jenae

"Step up to me if you want..., but be prepared to be knocked back down brutally. I'm not giving my game over to some freak like him."

End Confessional

* * *

"Huh, so this is it?" One of the girls stepped forward as she asked the question with a French accent. She was fairly tall and had a lithe, willowy figure with roughly no curves to speak of at all. She had fair skin and wore her platinum blonde hair in two high pigtails to keep it out of her face. Her eyes were a stormy grey and a dusting of freckles covered her cheeks and small nose. She wore black sweatpants, white sneakers, a white tank top, and a red track jacket sporting a "Cirque Plume" logo on it, with the sleeves rolled up. "What an even bigger freak show than home."

"And exactly what about me or Gabriel here is freaky exactly?" Alison stepped up to defend herself and Gabriel, giving him a quick wink as she did so, causing Gabriel to shudder. "Who are you to say that about us?"

"Well for one, you haven't noticed that he's kind of disgusted by you, so I guess you're abnormally thirsty?" The girl replied. "And to answer your other question, I am this show's winner, Cherise Blanchet, but should that prove too hard for you to remember, I also go by Cherry."

 **[Cherise "Cherry" Blanchet-The Circus Girl]**

"Oh-oh-man, that was _epic_." Arnold grinned as he turned to Alison. "She _so_ roasted you."

"Did I ask you to fight my battles for me, dandy boy?" Cherry's eyes moved over to Arnold who went quiet. "That's a good dandy."

* * *

Confessional: Cherry

"Contrary to that first impression, I'm not here to antagonize anyone...who doesn't deserve it anyways. But I'm never one to let annoying things slide."

End Confessional

* * *

"And that means you must be Vanessa." Chris turned to the other girl. She had naturally prominent eyes and a small nose. Her lips were full and coated in a layer of lipstick. She had nice cheekbones and a small forehead. Everything on her face looked proportional. Vanessa was wearing eyeliner, mascara, eyeshadow, and other makeup products on her face as well. She was fairly short but had long legs and an hourglass figure, if a little too on the skinny side. She had a thin neck, thin arms, and a thin waist. Everything on her brown skinned body looked proportional as well. She was wearing a black tank top with an unbuttoned blue flannel, blue skinny jeans, and black combat boots.

 **[Vanessa Mangdener-The Shy Artist]**

Vanessa, unsure of what to do, gave a shy nod and walked towards the other contestants, leaving only the other boy from the boat left.

"And you must be Raul." Chris stated, and the boy nodded. He was an incredibly tall boy of Mexican descent with heavily tanned skin, short brown hair, and green eyes. His face sported a somewhat crooked nose and a thick brown mustache. He had a muscular build with large biceps backing up and supporting his large hands. He wore a simple shirt with sleeves completely torn off to expose his shoulders. He also wore a pair of faded jeans which looked well used, and some of the contestants noticed a green notepad and pen visible out of one pocket. On his feet were a pair of large, steel-toed combat boots.

 **[Raul Soto-The Silent Brawler]**

Raul scribbled something down on his notepad and showed it to Chris, before turning to the other contestants. His eyes locked onto Vanessa, and he immediately began to walk purposefully towards her, who was frozen with fear until he stopped short of her, relaxed himself, and held out a hand with a smile. He used his other hand to show her the note he had just written.

 _"My name's Raul. I have a pretty bad voice, but I'm glad to be here, and hope to have a fun time playing this game!"_

Vanessa smiled. "M-me too." She responded before her voice was cut out by the sounds of a helicopter that began to hover overhead. The helicopter landed and out stepped the final contestant.

"And there he is." Chris grinned as the final contestant walked forward. "Everyone, this is Do-"

"Chrish, Chrish, Chrish, can I call you Chrish?" Donny rose a hand to Chris, but didn't wait for an answer. "I can make my own introductions, okay? It's why I didn't come here on a ferry. I used my own helicopter to get here Chrish, because I don't believe in handouts." He looked over the rest of the cast. "But I can see why a few of you guys might have taken those boats." He pointed to Christa and Raul. " _Your_ kind in particular is known for taking things away from the people like Chrish and I who work so hard for them."

"Woah, _okay_." Arnold stepped up to Donny. "You have _no_ right to talk about them like that, considering you're so fat that the helicopter was probably the only way you could even be brought here, you ass-biter!"

* * *

Confessional: Donny

"People say I'm an idiot, uneducated, a racist. Wrong. It's all part of my game, and that game always ends the same. You. Will. Be. Crushed."

 **[Donny Crush-The God Emperor]**

End Confessional

* * *

Donny walked up to Arnold intently. He looked the only way Donny Crush could possibly look, and wore the only outfit Donny Crush would be caught dead wearing on television. Donny reached Arnold, and punched him square in the face.

"Eeeep!" Arnold squealed as Donny began to beat down on him.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Jenae, Gabriel, Watts, and Aaron all ran to pull Donny off of Arnold, while Monica, Christa, and Claude all checked to make sure Arnold was okay.

"I appreciate you standing up for me." Christa smiled at Arnold. "But there are people like him in this world who tend to not respond to criticism very well."

"Hey!" Chris shouted from off camera before the camera turned back to him. "Let's keep the camera on _me_!"

"S-sorry." The person behind the camera replied. "It's just that...um...shouldn't we _do_ something about that last contestant?"

"Milk him for all he's worth?" Chris grinned. "I like the way you think!"

"No that's not what I meant! I meant that-"

"A-hem!" Chris stopped talking to them and turned to the contestants.

"Welcome, all 24 of you, Aaron, Alison, Arnold, Ash, Cherry, Christa, Claude, Donny, Ellie, Erin, Gabriel, Gran, Jenae, Mark, Mirai, Monica, Phooko, Rashi, Raul, Simon, Vanessa, Watts, Zaheen, Zaiyrin, you are all now _officially_ competing on Total Drama Nialasach! This island is known as Crios Cath, and it was settled after a group of Gaelic's got _horrendously_ lost at sea millennia ago, so there might be some skeletons still in the ruins, as well as some burial mounds among the Neart Highlands, but that's just some useless facts. Are you all ready for your first challenge?"

"Yeah!" Mirai cheered.

"Yeah- wait _what_ already?" Watts asked. "We haven't even been divided into teams yet!"

"Oh, don't worry Watts." Chris grinned. "That'll be the first part of this challenge. As you and a few others have already noticed," he pointed to the camera. "That statue holding one of this island's _many_ surveillance cameras, is actually not a statue at all, but-"

The camera shifted.

"Zero Sum's winner, Kaede Tsurumi! Give a round of applause for the winner of this season's spiritual ancestor everyone!" He gestured as the camera panned to Kaede, who was dressed in her familiar traditional japanese clothing, but had been coated in grey body paint to look like a statue.

Only around half the cast actually clapped.

"Kaede here will be deciding and naming the teams as the first part of your challenge. Once all the teams have been decided and named, you'll head into the Nialasach Ruins, a series of catacombs and old passageways that, courtesy of Zero Sum's 24th place contestant, Victor, have been filled to the brim with all manner of traps and feats of strength waiting to be overcome! You have any complaints about it, take it up with the V-man."

* * *

Confessional: Chris

"It's a huge win for production. We don't have to spend money and time thinking up challenges, and we don't get any of the blame from people who don't enjoy them!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Kaede? Can you do me a huge favor as a fan of this show?" Aaron asked. "Could you please put me on a team with Watts here? I feel like we'll get along really well."

"Oh, um…" Kaede looked down. "I'm sorry, uh...Aaron, but I've already written down who's on which team, and you and Watts are on different ones."

"Kaede, what were Hubert and Zastin like?" Watts asked. "Was it like what they seemed like on TV or were there sides to them we didn't get to see?"

"I think the show might have put too much focus on the good and bad decisions they made respectively, but they were both very friendly."

"No, no no." Chris shook his head. "No questions for Kaede. She isn't here to answer a panel. She's here to divide the victims up and pass the torch along." He turned to Kaede. "Get on with it!"

"Please don't rush me." Kaede warned. "It makes me want to go more slowly."

She cleared her throat as Chris rolled his eyes.

"Um...I wanted to keep the theme of four elements from my season with the teams, so that's what I did. I've decided to name each team after a Japanese deity to reflect the elements of Air, Water, Earth, and Fire, so without further ado... **Claude, Zaheen, Donny, Monica, Simon, and Christa**...you are now known as **Team Hayaji** , named after the Japanese god of whirlwind."

 **[Team Hayaji,Air Team,Team Color: White,Team Logo: A Large Tornado]**

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"And like a whirlwind, I'll blow the rest of the competition away!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Claude: Team Hayaji

"I don't view myself as a whirlwind, I'm much more of a soothing breeze, or perhaps bone-chilling depending on who, or what, you would ask."

End Confessional

* * *

" **Aaron, Rashi, Phooko, Mirai, Raul, and Vanessa**." Kaede continued. "You are now known as **Team Ebisu** , named after the Japanese god of fishermen and luck."

 **[Team Ebisu, Water Team, Team Color: Blue, Team Logo: Small Fat Fisherman Holding Large Carp]**

* * *

Confessional: Phooko: Team Ebisu

"ALRIGHT~! It's time to give it the best I've got!...Even if it is dealing with a bunch of dumbasses. Seriously, from Mirai's and Rashi's over-enthusiasm, to Raul and Vanessa already off in their own world, it's like Aaron and I are the only sane people on this team, and he's already expressed desire to be on another one!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Rashi: Team Ebisu

"I like to think I was placed on the Water Team because I'll represent the ocean during a giant storm! But I _am_ a little worried about where our team is going to have it's camp set up, because the beach certainly is no place to take a nap with the way the waves crash against the rocks here."

End Confessional

* * *

" **Arnold, Ash, Zaiyrin, Cherry, Gran, Ellie**." Kaede continued. "You are now known as **Team Inari** , named after the Japanese god of foxes, rice, and agriculture."

 **[Team Inari, Earth Team, Team Color: Green, Team Logo: Fox Slinking Through Rice Field]**

* * *

Confessional: Gran: Team Inari

"Wait, you mean I get to be on a team with the logo of a fox? Like for real? For real for real? I _love_ foxes! I might not really know who you are Kaede, but for putting me on the fox team, you're already one of my favorite Zero Sum contestants!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Ash: Team Inari

"Really wish that I could have been placed on that 'luck' team, lord knows I could have used it. Oh well, I'm sure it'll be fine! Between the magician whose tricks don't work, that mass of sass Arnold, the sarcasm queen of a circus girl, and whatever Zaiyrin is supposed to be, I don't think I'll stand out enough to get the boot, even with my klutziness!"

End Confessional

* * *

"And finally…" Kaede finished. " **Mark, Erin, Gabriel, Jenae, Watts, and Alison.** You are now known as **Team Fudo** , named after the Japanese version of the scary and intimidating Buddhist deity of fire and protector of wisdom."

 **[Team Fudo, Fire Team, Team Color: Red, Team Logo: A Sword Wreathed In A Cloak Of Fire]**

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"Now _this_ girl knows which team I belong on!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"I'm on the new Raging Flames? AKA The new best team? AKA The new version of the team Kaede herself was a part of? Hell to the yes!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Alright." Chris grinned. "The teams have been decided, and the Nialasach Ruin doors are wide open for you to enter! You'll receive further instructions once inside thanks to some handy video messages left by Victor himself, and remember...the first team to complete the challenge and exit the ruins will get to spin the Wheel of Reward to take a camp luxury from the losing team, who _will_ be heading to the first Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony in the Ionad Desert, where one of you will become the first contestant to enter the Tomb of Shame, and earn the not-so-proud ranking of 24th place out of 24 contestants."

* * *

Confessional: Alison: Team Fudo

"And it's _not_ going to be me."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Mirai: Team Ebisu

"Come on Ebisu, let's WIN THIS! CRUSH THE OTHERS INTO THE GROUND! *Ahem* Um...I mean, um, let's give it our best everyone!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Well?" Chris asked. "What are you all standing around here for? Get to exploring the ruins! Otherwise you might not have any Camp Luxuries to speak of for your team, and take it from The Cursed Island's Macabre Mummies, that situation _sucks_! Go, campers, go!"

Chris blew his air horn and the contestants all rushed into the ruins.

Chris looked into the camera as Kaede washed herself of the body paint in the background.

"And they're off! How will the teams work together, which team will end up with which camp luxury? Where will each team be forced to live? And who will be the first person voted off? Find out when we come back on…  
Total!

Drama!

Niiiiiiiiialasach!"

* * *

 **AN: And Episode 1 Part 1 has been completed! Each and every one of the OCs you guys sent in is amazing, so thank you for that! This is the first ever introduction chapter I actually had** _ **fun**_ **writing! Stay tuned for the first challenge, first Wheel of Reward spin, and first elimination! And please remember that even though I love all these characters, there can only be a single winner, so chances are high your character is going to be eliminated eventually. Don't take it personally.**

 **Thanks for reading!**


	7. Ep 1: Dia Dhuit Crios Cath! (Part 2)

**AN: No. The names Donny says are not spelled incorrectly. That's just the way he says them. The best way.**

* * *

 _Earlier On Total Drama Nialasach_

" _Welcome to Crios Cath!"_

" _We'll not only be basing every single challenge off the contestant eliminated in that place, but those contestants designed the challenges themselves!"_

" _Claude, Zaheen, Donny, Monica, Simon, and Christa...you are now known as Team Hayaji, named after the Japanese god of whirlwind."_

" _Aaron, Rashi, Phooko, Mirai, Raul, and Vanessa, you are now known as Team Ebisu, named after the Japanese god of fishermen and luck"_

" _Arnold, Ash, Zaiyrin, Cherry, Gran, and Ellie, you are now known as Team Inari, named after the Japanese god of foxes, rice, and agriculture."_

" _Mark, Erin, Gabriel, Jenae, Watts, and Alison. You are now known as Team Fudo, named after the Japanese version of the scary and intimidating Buddhist deity of fire and protector of wisdom."_

" _Remember...the first team to complete the challenge and exit the ruins will get to spin the Wheel of Reward to take a camp luxury from the losing team, who will be heading to the first Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony in the Ionad Desert, where one of you will become the first contestant to enter the Tomb of Shame, and earn the not-so-proud ranking of 24th place out of 24 contestants."_

 _(The teams are seen running into the ruins)_

 _We now return you to Total Drama Nialasach, Episode 1: Dia Dhuit Crios Cath!_

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins Entrance_

 _Contestant(s): All Remaining_

"You've _got_ to be kidding me." Erin groaned as all 24 contestants stopped in front of a small video monitor. Attached to it was a sticky note that said "Play the tape."

"Might as well play the tape then." Simon said as he pressed the play button on the screen. An image of all the camp luxuries appeared on the monitor and a gruff voice began to speak.

"Alright Nialasach contestants. I've got to make a starting challenge for you, so here goes. These are the Nialasach Ruins, known to have many winding twists and turns, as well as multiple pathways to and from the same areas. The ruins themselves have six main large rooms including the one you find yourself in now. In each of those other five large rooms is _either_ a choice that you as a team must make between four of the sixteen camp luxuries, or less if you are the losers not in first place, _or_ an area containing the biome in which your team will be sent to live, another thing I'd like to mention is that throughout the ruins, I've taken the liberty to hide clues to the Force, Fish, Fox, and Fire Medals, immunity medals hidden around the island only playable by members of the original Hayaji, Ebisu, Inari, and Fudo teams respectively. The first team to have obtained all their camp luxuries _and_ have made their way back out of the ruins will win the right to spin the Wheel of Reward, stealing one of the luxuries from the last place team before they can even use it. In addition, the last place team _will_ have to vote someone off. Finally, if you're still listening to this video and haven't started trying to win the challenge…"

The room began to shake as the ceiling of the ruin began to cave in. "Then you should really get on that." Victor could almost be heard laughing as the video stopped playing.

"Crap, crap, crap!" Jenae covered herself as she began to run deeper into the ruins. "There's no way I'm being caved into some cramped-ass ruins today! Fudo, down the north path!"

"There's no tomorrow without today, guys!" Mark agreed as he followed Jenae. "This way!"

"They aren't _actually_ going to kill us, guys." Erin rolled her eyes as she calmly walked after them. "Everyone get a grip so we can finish this challenge and head back to our campsite and I can get back to my experiments. Science doesn't advance itself you know."

"You must not have seen this show much." Alison replied as she walked with Erin, careful not to let any dust fall down on her hair. "He almost _always_ tries to kill the contestants."

* * *

Confessional: Erin: Team Fudo

"I don't believe that for a minute. He just says he does to boost his ratings.

…

…

…

Yeah. Yeah, he just says he does."

End Confessional

* * *

"Inari!" Zaiyrin announced. "We forge westward!"

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"I am at a bit of an impasse when it comes to how to make use of the team I have been given. I was hoping for a well balanced party, but there is not a single Fighter among us! We are Mages, Bards, and Acrobats. We don't have the tanking or offensive power necessary to do well in a strength-based challenge."

End Confessional

* * *

"You, magic man!" Cherry said to Gran as the two ran with the rest of their team. Ellie kept supporting Ash, who kept tripping on rubble in the ruins a tad behind them. "You care to try some sort of trick that will keep us safe from the falling ceiling? Or should we never hold out hope for you?"

Gran sighed.

"Keep running forwards. I'll try to see what I can do."

* * *

Confessional: Gran: Team Inari

"And, _hopefully_ it'll be one of the times where I'm _not_ getting my face blown up."

End Confessional

* * *

Gran lifted his hands in a strange pose as he looked at the collapsing ceiling. "Let's see if I can't move the chaoss towards another team…" He muttured.

As soon as the words left his mouth a giant piece of the ruins came crashing down towards him, and Arnold ended up pulling him out of the way.

"Don't you dare _cave in_ and cost this challenge for us." He scolded Gran before the two began to run again.

* * *

Confessional: Gran: Team Inari

"Great. This is some first impression I'm making."

End Confessional

* * *

"Haji!" Donny spoke loudly and sternly. "Follow me, 'kay? I've got a nose for ruins. The best nose. We go this way."

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"Hey, if we wants to take the fall if we lose, go ahead douchebag, lead the way."

End Confessional

* * *

The rest of Team Hayaji began to follow Donny down the southern path of the ruins.

"Can't someone do something about these rocks?" Monica asked.

"Oh, allow me, darling." Zaheen smiled as she snapped her fingers, and almost instantly, the falling rocks stopped falling near Team Hayaji.

"All this dust everywhere." Claude observed as he reached into his suit and took out a dust rag. "I will not allow my team to be subjected to such filth. It is beneath us."

"Oh, I'll help clean too!" Christa responded.

"But of course." Claude smiled at his teammate.

* * *

Confessional: Claude: Team Hayaji

"I am a professional butler. I take pride in doing the work that others do not want to do themselves, but extra hands are always helpful. That said, I would prefer Christa not spend much time with me. I doubt she would approve of a few of my...hobbies, and I did not come here to make an enemy of our team mom."

End Confessional

* * *

"Alright Ebisu!" Phooko announced. "That means we head down the eastern path!"

"Wait, who said we all had to head down _different_ paths?" Aaron posited. "Chris said that Victor loaded this place with traps, so let's just pick a different team and follow them, then brush past them out of the ruins." He turned to Raul and Rashi. "The two of you look strong enough for it, what do you say?"

Raul scribbled down on his notepad before handing it to Vanessa.

"I like the way you think." Vanessa read. "Smirking emoticon."

"Heck yeah!" Rashi flexed. "Pick a team, sharktooth boy, and i'll keep 'em off of us!"

Raul did a similar flex and gave a somewhat excited expression.

Vanessa, having had a little time to get used to her team, let out a small laugh.

"Hey!" Mirai grabbed Aaron by the shoulders and turned him so that he was looking at her. "I can do it too! Let me help with the physical portion too!"

"W-well I…" Aaron began to stumble over his words. "I don't want to mate *blegh* _make_ you feel unexpected-I mean _unaccepted_. If you want to help out you can. Phooko, Vanessa, and I will take the observer positions and watch out for any traps that might not have been triggered."

"Really?" Mirai's eyes lit up. "Yay~! Thank you Aaron!"

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"I don't think I've ever encountered a girl like Mirai before. She's someone I should probably keep my eye on...for multiple reasons. That's what my idol would do. Huh? Who is my idol? Well, they're from Zero Sum, and the even semi-observant can probably already guess, but I'll tell you. His name is-"

"Excusez-moi." Cherry's voice called from outside the confessional. "There happens to be a line forming. This is not your personal latrine."

"I guess it's pretty obvious anyways." Aaron shrugged into the camera. "Gotta go. It looks like my time is up."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins Antechamber A_

 _Contestant(s): Alison, Erin, Gabriel, Jenae, Mark, Watts_

"We made it!" Mark exclaimed with a smile as Team Fudo reached the first of five chambers. "There's another stand and a video monitor!" He pointed ahead of everyone.

Watts walked up to the monitor and pressed the play button, and as Victor's voice explained the choice between the four camp luxuries, Gabriel, Jenae, and Alison all looked over the four vouchers for each luxury on the stand.

"Here at this stand, in Antechamber A." Victor announced. "You can take your choice of Breakfast, Cabin, Charcoal Grill, or Water Bottles. You may only choose one."

"Um…" Gabriel began to think. "Which one is the most useful?"

"Let's get the cabin." Alison suggested. "I don't want to have to sleep _outside_."

"No." Watts shook his head. "Trust me on this one, breakfast."

"I agree with breakfast." Jenae nodded.

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"My body has a physical form to be maintained, and I'll be damned if I let some white-ass pampered English bitch starve our team because she didn't want to 'get her hair dirty'."

End Confessional

* * *

"Breakfast would be nice." Mark agreed. "It would save a lot of work we'd otherwise have to do around camp every day."

* * *

Confessional: Mark: Team Fudo

"And to be honest, I'm more of a go with the flow kind of guy. The more time there is to chill and play music between challenges, the better. There's no tomorrow without today after all."

End Confessional

* * *

"Erin?" Gabriel asked.

"I really don't care." Erin sighed. "Sure, breakfast, whatever. I guess I can't afford to experiment on an empty stomach."

"Then I guess we're choosing breakfast." Gabriel said as he took the Breakfast voucher. "Sorry, Alison. Maybe we'll be able to make a decent shelter with the materials in wherever we're sent to live on the island."

"Hmph. Fine." Alison crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing at Watts's back while Team Fudo walked down another pathway towards a different antechamber.

* * *

Confessional: Alison: Team Fudo

"Look James, and I call you James because we're _not_ friends. I don't take kindly to your jealous and hostile takeover of my wonderful cabin idea. If it rains tonight, I hope you catch a cold, and don't let your jealousy get in the way of my comfort again!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"Back on Zero Sum, the teams that had little by the way of food always, as a unit, performed the worst, so breakfast was an obvious choice to make. If we could get dinner too, that would be even better...and I suppose if Alison really wants a roof over her head we could go for the chicken coop or outhouse or shower when those options show up."

End Confessional

* * *

"Hey…" Mark nudged Watts in the shoulder as they brought up the rear of their team, and pointed to something sticking out of the wall. "What's that?"

"I dunno." Watts shrugged as the two both huddled as Watts pulled the rolled up piece of paper out of the wall.

"Congratulations, you have found the clue to the Fire Immunity Medal!" Watt's voice rose in excitement as he read it aloud.

"Oh, sick!" Mark smiled. "That's awesome! Hey, we'll be an alliance alright? That way we can share the medal when we find it!"

"Are you two just going to stand there all day?" Jenae called from where the rest of Fudo had gone.

"Right behind you!" Mark called as Watts shoved the note in his pocket.

"We can read it on our own time later."

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins Antechamber D_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Arnold, Ash, Cherry, Ellie, Gran, Mirai, Phooko, Rashi, Raul, Vanessa, Zaiyrin_

"Let-us-through!" Rashi pushed against the members of Team Inari, aided by Raul and Mirai as the rest of Team Ebisu rushed into the antechamber first.

"First!" Phooko announced. "We called it! It's official, we were first here!"

"N-no you weren't!" Ellie spoke up softly. "You just p-pushed past us!"

"How did you even get passed that large rock that magic man left behind anyways?" Cherry asked as her eyes narrowed.

"Oh that?" Aaron responded. "You should have _seen_ the way Mirai handled that! For such a cute girl she's more fierce than a freaking grizzly bear when she wants to be!"

Mirai blushed with a bashful smile as Team Inari turned to look at her and giggled.

"Oh stop, you're making me blush."

"If _she's_ the one doing all the heavy lifting on your team, I'm glad I'm on _this_ one." Arnold snarked. "At least here it's clear none of us have muscle mass. What's tan, tall, and mustached here's excuse?" He looked over at Raul.

Raul slowly walked up to Arnold and crushed a rock as he did so.

"Oooh, you broke a rock." Arnold wasn't impressed.

* * *

Confessional: Raul: Team Ebisu

Raul is scribbling feverishly on his notepad before he rapidly shows notes into the camera. "I want to tell that little bitch off so bad, but I can't because of my throat injury, and if he was part of one of the gangs back in my hometown, he'd find himself missing an arm by now for all that sass he can't control. I am so glad he's not on my team, because I don't know how well I'd be able to put up with someone like him."

Raul finished his fervent writing and breathed heavily for a little while.

End Confessional

* * *

"Let's see…" Phooko said as he looked over the stand. "It's between the Shower, the Mattresses, the Snorkeling Equipment, and the Towels"

"Oof…" Rashi stretched out her back. "Considering my back already feels sore, I'd like to place in my vote for Mattresses."

"Anyone have any objections?"

"Yes, in fact I'm sure our entire team has objections." Gran stated. "We got here first!"

"Sorry!" Rashi called back to them as Ebisu left down a path. "But it's the Victor challenge! Sometimes you just have to get physical!"

"I hate that team already." Gran grumbled as Zaiyrin and Ash looked over the remaining choices. "Shower, Towels Snorkeling Equipment." Ash repeated the luxuries that were left.

"We shall take the towels!" Zaiyrin announced.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Gran stepped up. "Shouldn't we decide as a group first what we take and why?"

"I agree with the magic man." Cherry said as Ellie also gave enthusiastic nods.

"Mmhm! Mmhm! Mmhm!" She agreed with what the other two were saying.

"I've played all manner of survival strategy games." Zaiyrin smirked. "And I am a bona fide master at each one. The towels offer us the most versatility. We can use them for comfort, for protections from the elements, as tethers,"

"Or perhaps even as towels." Cherry smriked.

"Yes, or perhaps even as-." Zaiyrin stopped. "Mock me all you like, but my strategy is sage." He said as he snatched the voucher for the Towels. "Now, Inari, onwards! This way!"

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins Antechamber A_

 _Contestant(s): Christa, Claude, Donny, Monica, Simon, Zaheen_

"What the-?" Monica rushed up to the stand. "There's only 3 vouchers left on this stand! Way to go, Donny, you led us down such a long path that we're not in first place!"

"Look, no one else was leading, okay?" Donny responded calmly. "I don't see Claude or Simon trying to lead this team, and there's no way we'll be letting a woman run us into the ground, okay? I'm still the greatest leader this team could hope to have. The best, and look!" He picked up the voucher for the Cabin. "I just got us a shelter, free of charge. You're. Welcome. Go on, say 'Thank You Donny.' Say it."

Monica and Zaheen both folded their arms while Christa obeyed Donny's command. "Thank you Donny." She smiled.

* * *

Confessional: Christa: Team Hayaji

"Donny is exactly the kind of person I never wanted to see on my team, but me personally not liking someone is no excuse to treat them any differently than the others. They are _all_ my valued teammates."

End Confessional

* * *

"I guess we keep going then." Simon said. "Which path this time/"

"Lead the way, Donny, darling." Zaheen crossed her arms with a smirk. "I'm sure you'll pull us into the lead this time.

"Alright, this way." Donny picked a path to walk down. "Women, you try not to step on any of the men's heels, okay?"

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"I just want to wring his thick fat neck!"

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins Antechamber B_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Alison, Gabriel, Erin, Jenae, Mark, Mirai, Phooko, Rashi, Raul, Vanessa, Watts_

"Gogogogogogogo! Go!" Phooko yelled as Team Ebisu ran their way into an antechamber while they dodged darts coming from traps in the walls.

"Ugh…" Rashi had been hit with a good four of them.

"Rashi, are you okay?" Vanessa asked as she assisted Rashi into the room.

"Tell my family...I...love them…" Rashi yawned.

"Oh don't be baby." Victor's voice said as Mirai played the videotape in an effort to take all the attention off of Rashi. "They're just tranquilizer darts. The most they'll do is make you want to fall asleep."

"Huh?" Rashi blinked. "I thought these tapes were prerecorded."

"These tapes _are_ pre-recorded, but obviously one of you would be hit by that trap, and even more obviously you'd be whining about it." Victor's recording responded. "Now, here we have your choice between Charcoal, Dinner, Fishing Spear, or Couch."

"Um...Hrm…" Phooko looked over each of them and turned to Raul. "What do you think?"

Raul scribbled down on his notepad and showed it to Phooko.

"Dinner." Phooko read aloud.

"Well, I'm a pretty good cook I think." Aaron began. "But sure, why not Dinner? It's not like we'll always have enough food to cook anyways, and this will help us get at least one square meal in a day."

Raul grinned with pride as Phooko snatched up the Dinner voucher while Team Fudo rushed into the room.

"Ew, it's the _fish_." Alison said as she noticed the opposing team. "Leave us, before we make fish sticks out of you. Go on."

While Gabriel tried to stop Alison from making a scene, and Erin looked over the luxuries left to choose from in the chamber, Jenae pulled Mark and Watts over into a corner, and held out her hand.

"Give it to me."

"Give what to you?" Mark asked. "And no! We know our rights. You can't take anything from us by force!"

"I don't need to." Jenae shrugged. "But if you want this team to trust you, I suggest you don't keep the medal clue I know you have to yourselves. Give it to me."

"But we haven't even read it yet!" Watts countered. "How do we know you won't just read it and look for the medal yourself?"

"How do I know you're not lying to me right now?" Jenae asked. "Look boys, we, as a team, can get along. I _want_ us to get along, and the best way to do that would be to share the clue with everyone, as a sign of trust."

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"She's really got us by our balls. If we don't give her the clue, we've got an even bigger target on our backs, and we aren't going to have enough time before the first Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony to find the medal, wherever it may be."

End Confessional

* * *

"Fine." Watts sighed as he handed Jenae the clue. "But we'll be keeping an eye on you."

"Oh don't you worry about it." Jenae smiled. "I promise we're in this together."

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"As in competing in a competition for a million dollars together, so yeah, I'm taking every advantage I can get." Jenae takes out the clue and scans it over incredibly quickly before ripping it to shreds and flushing it down the confessional toilet.

"There we go." She smirks. "In games like these you go big or you go home, and I sure as hell ain't going home."

End Confessional

* * *

"Hey!" Alison noticed as Gabriel pulled her away from an escalating confrontation with Mirai. "They took the dinner option already!"

"And?" Erin asked. "We have breakfast already, what's it matter?"

"Well we wanted Dinner too didn't we?" Alison asked.

"Ha!" Mirai laughed. "We got Dinner! We got Dinner!"

"Don't step up to me, _bitch_." Alison stepped towards Mirai.

"You're the one stepping up to _me_ , _bitch_." Mirai mirrored Alison's energy before turning to her team.

"Aaaaaronnnnn...Alison's trying to start drama with meeee…."

"Alison, stop instigating Team Ebisu." Gabriel sighed. "We need to decide which of the other luxuries we're going to take."  
"Oh, heehee." Alison faked a giggle. " _Of course_ , Gabriel." She smiled.

Gabriel shuddered.

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel: Team Fudo

"It's not like Alison is lacking in the looks department. She's very _very_ attractive, but I can see her true colors from a mile away, and I'm not hooking up with a gold digger. Not a snowball's chance in Hell."

End Confessional

* * *

"Let's take the couch!" Alison picked up the voucher before anyone could do or say otherwise.

"Uh-oh…" Victor's voice on the tap began to play as the floor of the room began to open up.

The contestants inside looked down to see a pit full of spikes. "This is what happens when too many contestants stay in one room for too long. It looks like you guys better hightail it out of there."

"Ebisu!" Aaron called as Team Ebisu all quickly ran down a path, Mirai carrying an only half awake Rashi. "This way, come on! Fudo, the path to your right is the closest one! Run!"

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"Dang, Victor, I wasn't expecting a trap that dangerous. I'm almost impressed...almost. I'm actually really freaking pissed at you right now! What are you trying to do, kill us? O-oh wait...Total Drama….riiiiight. I'm still shaking with rage though." He holds up a furiously shaking hand and it accidentally hits the camera. "Ah, shit!" He pulls his hand back and cups it to his chest. " _Man_ that hurt!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Alright!" Gabriel said as he jumped onto the part of the floor heading towards the right path. "Alison, Erin, you guys need to jump!"

Alison grinned as she elegantly double flipped over the growing gap and stuck a perfect landing in between Gabriel and Mark.

* * *

Confessional: Mark: Team Fudo

"Man...that was probably the sexiest thing I think I've ever seen."

End Confessional

* * *

"Erin, come on!" Gabriel called.

* * *

Confessional: Erin: Team Fudo

"Does this lab coat _look_ like it was made for me to run and jump around in?"

End Confessional

* * *

Erin rolled her eyes before moving as fast as she could and jumping...just barely missing the other side with her hand.

"Eyahhh!" She screamed with fear before her wrist was caught and she was pulled up onto the pathway with the rest of her team. Her heart beating fast with adrenaline, she looked up to see that she was sitting in Watts's lap.

"You good?" He asked.

"I could have gripped the wall and free-climbed my way up." Erin responded as she stood up abruptly and dusted her lab coat off. "Please refrain from making contact with my skin again unless the following two conditions are met: I tell you it's safe to, and Hell's frozen over."

"I only asked if you were okay…" Watts lowered his head.

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"I only asked if she was alright! Why all the hostility for trying to help a teammate out?"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Erin: Team Fudo

"Look. People suck. Plain and simple. As such, I do my best to avoid people. The reason I'm on this show is so that I can use the monetary winnings to further all sorts of scientific studies. I have no need for other people. They're to me, what black cats, spilled salt, and cracked mirrors are to people who believe in superstitious nonsense. Misfortune just waiting to happen. Besides, the experiments I plan to conduct are dangerous for the average idiot. This is as much for his own safety as it is for my comfort."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins(Pathway #37)_

 _Contestant(s): Arnold, Ash, Cherry, Ellie, Gran, Zaiyrin_

"And there we go!" Zaiyrin smiled as he led Team Inari down another pathway. "We have secured the Hot Tub!"

"Yeah, but the chicken coop was clearly the _useful_ option." Cherry argued. "You could not have chosen a shorter path, master strategist?"

"Hey, don't dis a hot tub!" Arnold argued. "Or are you too _chicken_ to get in a bathing suit since girl, _I've_ got more curves than you."

"For instance-" Cherry's brow furrowed as she continued to chastise Zaiyrin. "Shorter than the amount of time Arnold can stay silent?"

"I sort of agree with Cherry." Ash spoke up. "Zaiyrin, you've been leading us really well through the ruins, I mean, since the rock challenge we haven't encountered a single trap but...well, that was our last luxury. We have the Grill without any Charcoal to speak of, we have the Fishing Spear, the Towels, and now a Hot Tub, but each time we made it to an area, there's never been all four vouchers still remaining. Maybe we should let someone else lead?"

"And who among you can see traps a good half a mile away and take measures to avoid them?" Zaiyrin asked as he rose his hand.

While he, Ash, and Cherry all argued about what to do next, Ellie walked up to Arnold.

"Hey Arnold…" She said as she fiddled with a bound scroll in her hands. "I-I found this as we left the room and I wanted to share it with-"

"A piece of paper?" Arnold tilted his head. "Ellie, you don't need to win my friendship with a piece of paper. You're a nice girl, so we're already friends, got it? You just stay away from Gran, who'd probably get stuck in his own magician's hat if he tried to pull something out of it, and watch what you say around Cherry or _she'll_ make a clown out of _you_."

"Um...well, actually…" Ellie fiddled with the scroll some more.

"Don't worry Ellie!" Arnold grinned. "Once I tell everyone about your adorable way to become friends with me by showing me a random piece of paper, they'll all love ya, girl! Now come on, the team's heading to our last stop. We need to get to the last chamber and pick a biome for our campsite!" He smiled and turned around, leaving Ellie mortified

* * *

Confessional: Ellie: Team Inari

"Um, okay, so this was the Fox Idol clue, and I wanted to share it with Arnold since he seemed nice, but now it looks like he was _too_ nice, and I can't let him tell anyone I have this! Oh, why me, Crios Cath island gods?"

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins Antechamber E_

 _Contestant(s): All Remaining_

"Go, go, go!" Phooko announced as Ebisu ran out of the room down the pathway that Hayaji had just come in from.

"Quickly!" Monica announced as Simon hurried over to the stand of the antechamber. "We've got the Cabin, the Charcoal, the Canoe, and the Shower. We only need to pick a living space and then we can get out of here, overtake Ebisu, and win this challenge!"

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"Okay, is it just me? Or does Simon run weird?'

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"It's probably going to come out eventually, so I'll let all of you know now." he lifts his pant leg up to reveal a transtibial prosthesis which he snapped off and held in front of the camera. "Yeah, these people may have a 'leg up' on me so to speak, but that doesn't mean I'll be easy to take down! I've been wrestling for practically forever, and my 'fake leg' as some might call it has never gotten in the way before. I guess that's one of the advantages of having been using it since birth. In any case, it's not a problem my team need concern themselves with. Merely a... a fun fact, I guess. After all, my main shtick is computers and software. Like say...the video monitors in these ruins for example."

End Confessional

* * *

"Well, considering that Team Ebisu just took the bog area…" Simon said as he fiddled with the monitor while looking at the other notes. "What do you say we go for the mountains? If we get used to camping up there, we'll perform much better during challenges down on the island, where the air is thicker and easier to breathe."

"A mountain resort is one of the best kinds of resorts." Donny agreed. "I mean, not as great as a few beach resorts I happen to own. Those are the best, okay? But I guess mountain resorts are good too, and I _did_ get us that Cabin. You guys remember? I got us that Cabin, so we won't have to worry about shelter because I got us that Cabin, which of course, I got us."

* * *

Confessional: Zaheen: Team Hayaji

Zaheen is laughing for a while before she finally speaks into the camera. "What was that, Donny? I didn't quite catch it the first few thousand times, darling." She then returns to laughing.

End Confessional

* * *

"Mountain it is then." Claude nodded as he picked up the campsite voucher.

"Alright, Haji." Donny spoke as he took the voucher from Claude and pointed. "Let's overtake Ebzu and win. No excuses."

As Team Hayaji began to run down the the corridor, Christa tripped, and found herself looking at a small bound scroll.

She picked it up as she stood back on her feet and unfurled it as the continued to run again, Her eyes widened.

* * *

Confessional: Christa: Team Hayaji

"I found...I found the clue to the Force Medal? That's wonderful. It means no one else has the clue. I'll keep it tucked away in my bag and I can rest easy knowing that the medal will never be found or used for evil purposes. Huh? Why don't I look for it myself? Oh, no I don't believe in using those things. I feel like it's a form of cheating to be honest. You shouldn't be able to negate votes against you. That's just my two cents on the matter though."

End Confessional

* * *

"Okay, here we are!" Gabriel announced to Team Fudo as they rushed into the final antechamber.

"You see?" Zaiyrin turned to Team Inari as they entered at the same time. "We've made it here at the same time as Fudo! I am an expert navigator of these ruins!"

"No, I'm, like, _pretty sure_ we got here like, a few seconds before you." Alison responded.

"Like, ohmygod, who cares?" Cherry mimicked Alison's mannerisms. "Zaiyrin, just choose a place and let's get out of here."

"Sorry Fox Team!" Jenae said from the stand with the monitor as she picked up the voucher for a campsite in the Neart Highlands. "Fudo's got to roll out now!"

"Oh hey…" Victor's message on the monitor began to play. "That was the last voucher."

"What?!" Gran exclaimed. "No it wasn't! There's still that one for the Upper Ceol Fields left!" He pointed as Ash grabbed the voucher, only to be blown towards the wall of the antechamber by a small explosion coming from the monitor.

"What the-?!" She screamed before hitting the stone.

"Oof…" Gran winced. "That had to hurt, are you okay, Ash?"

"I...I'm fine!" Ash gave a thumbs up as she dizzily got back on her feet. "Come on, Fudo's getting away. We need to catch up to them if we don't want to go to elimination!"

She ran into the wall again, before shaking her head, giving the rest of her team a thumbs up, and running down the pathway.

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"No, I wasn't responsible for the computer exploding, but I was responsible for when it happened. I had a feeling Victor would program a trap for a team in last place to deal with. I've seen the Nui Kaua trilogy. I know the type of guy he is. My apologies to Team Inari. I did not realize it was that dangerous a trap. I had expected something more along the lines of goo or perhaps the flooding of a room."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Nialasach Ruins Entrance  
Contestant(s): All Remaining_

"We're here by the Nialasach Ruins Entrance." Chris exclaimed into the camera with a smile as Kaede feverishly looked into the ruins, hoping to catch a glimpse of one of the teams to make sure they were all alright.

"The teams have all grabbed their luxuries and their campsite vouchers!" He continued. "Team Hayaji will be staying in the Cloch Mountain Range, and will have a Team Cabin, a bag of Charcoal, a Canoe, and a Team Shower.

Team Ebisu will be staying in the Cailleach Bog, and will have the Self-Filtering Water Bottles, Dinner made by Chef, the Chicken Coop, and Mattresses.

Team Inari will be staying in the Upper Ceol Fields, and will have the Charcoal Grill, sans any actual charcoal, hah hah hah, the Fishing Spear, the Hot Tub, and Team Towels.

Finally, Team Fudo will be staying in the Neart Highlands, and will have Breakfast made by Chef, a Couch, a Team Outhouse, and Snorkeling Equipment! Now all that's left to do is see which team, if any, makes it out first!"

" _If any?!"_ Kaede asked, incredibly worried.

"I was _kidding_!" Chris called back, before the camera zoomed in on him.

"No I wasn't!" He whispered to the camera with a smile. "Victor sure can make a challenge! A-hunh hunh..."

"I see a team!" Kaede announced. "I see one!"

"And the winning team of the first challenge is…" Chris announced as the 1st place team rushed out of the ruins.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Team Ebisu!" Chris announced. "Congratulations, you're the winners of Total Drama Nialasach's first challenge!"

"Wooo!" Phooko cheered as he shared a high five with a still groggy, but celebrating Rashi.

Raul and Vanessa smiled at each other and nodded calmly.

Mirai and Aaron cheerfully jumped up and down while hugging each other.

* * *

Confessional: Raul: Team Ebisu

Raul says nothing, but smiles into the camera as he opens his palm to reveal a bound scroll. The look on his face says it all. He's incredibly proud of his finding.

End Confessional

* * *

"Here comes another team!" Kaede announced.

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Team Hayaji!" Chris proclaimed as Team Hayaji joined the others outside the ruins.

"You might not be first, but you aren't last. You're all safe tonight!"

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"Do we _have_ to be safe tonight? I can't have Donny leading this team if we aren't going to _win_. The sooner he leaves and I can take charge, the better."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Donny: Team Hayaji

"I know why we lost. One word. _Chrishta._ " He begins to gesture with his hands. "She's too submissive for a competition like this. She probably whored her way onto this show, and is going to whore herself to stay on. Her kind is like that, since they're ultimately unskilled. I feel bad for Ebzoo. They've got that Rule guy. He's giant, like, too tall to be any normal human, and he doesn't do shit for them. He hasn't even spoken, and that's _proof_ , okay? _Proof_ of how lazy he is."

End Confessional

* * *

"The other two teams are coming, the other two teams are coming!" Kaede announced as she saw Team Fudo and Team Inari both racing towards the finish line.

"They're neck and neck!" Chris announced.

"It's Team Fudo,

Team Inari,

Team Fudo,

Team Inari,

Team Fudo,

And…

The lucky…

Third place…

Team….

…

…

Is..

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Team Fudo!" Chris announced with a smile. "Which means, Team Inari...you'll be heading to our first Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony, right after Ebisu decides which of your luxuries will instead be brought to _their_ camp!"

"Woo!" Jenae cheered as she quickly hugged Gabriel, before just as quickly shoving him away.

"Gee, way to lead us to _3rd_ place." She criticised him. "I guess there's no way around it. I'll have to help you with taking care of the others, as it seems you can't quite do it on your own."

"Um...okay?" Gabriel asked.

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel: Team Fudo

"Now _Jenae_ is also very, _very_ attractive, and unlike Alison, she isn't trying to seduce me for my father's money. I'm much closer to going out with her, but, well... competition first you know. Besides, it's not like she'd like me back."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"No. I'm not here for relationships. Not even with a take-charge boy with a _delicious_ ass and-. Look, like I said, no relationships! It'll screw up my game. First time we lose, I'm voting his _perfect_ butt off this island. No mercy!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Crap!" Gran kicked up some sand. "Some strategy, Zaiyrin! We lost!"

"But none of our team is physically hurt or mentally shaken." Zaiyrin countered. "We have the advantage of superior health to the other teams."

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"And health goes a long way in this game. Just ask Oswald from Zero Sum."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Arnold: Team Inari

"Well, I know who I'm voting for for sure! No one really cost us the challenge, because it's not like any of us could have done a better job leading than Zaiyrin did, but Cherry is too mean."

End Confessional

* * *

"Raul!" Chris turned to Raul. "You were the first of Team Ebisu to leave the ruins so… Kaede?"

"Hngh!" Kaede grunted as she pulled out a large Wheel of Fortune looking wheel with pictures of all four of Team Inari's luxuries on it.

"You get to spin the Wheel of Reward!" Chris exclaimed. "Which of Team Inari's luxuries will become Team Ebisu's?"

Raul nodded as he put his hands on the Wheel of Reward and gave it a giant spin.

The wheel spun as the pictures the needle was pointing at changed from Grill to Fishing Spear to Hot Tub to Towels to Grill to Fishing Spear to Hot Tub to Towels to

Grill

To  
Fishing

Spear

To

Hot Tub.

"The Hot Tub!" Chris announced as Ebisu cheered while Inari groaned. "Alright, Teams Ebisu, Hayaji, and Fudo, you all head to your camps, where everything should _already_ be waiting!" He tossed maps to Aaron, Donny, and Gabriel, before turning to Team Inari.

"Team Inari, you're coming with me. The sun's almost down, and to avoid freezing to death in the desert, we'll be having our Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremonies in the evening hours before it gets too cold."

* * *

 _Location: Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony_

 _Contestant(s): Arnold, Ash, Cherry, Ellie, Gran Zaiyrin_

"Let's cut to the chase, Team Inari." Chris grinned. "You've all got some pretty big problems that, in _this_ host's opinion, are enough to send you home. Arnold, dude, learn when to stay quiet. Ash, you seem to be so klutzy that production contemplated putting a large cage around the bonfire so that you wouldn't fall in. Cherry, you have the same problem Arnold has, only French-ier, and therefore weirder. Ellie, you have the opposite problem of Cherry and Arnold. If you don't speak up or spend time with your teammates, this game's going to get a _lot_ harder for you. Gran. Do I need to say it? I will anyway, your magic tricks _suck_. Finally, Zaiyrin, for a master strategist, you sure don't seem to be doing a good job of selling yourself by letting your team lose the first challenge."

All at once, everyone on Inari began to defend themselves against Chris's statements, but the host rose a hand.

"Up-up-up!" He exclaimed. "I don't want to hear it. I was just giving you reasons to vote each other out! One of you has to be our first loser after all. Now, go ahead and walk up to the voting area when I call your name and cast your vote, leave a message for your vote if you want, and come back here. After everyone's voted I'll tally them, at which point I will then award safe contestants with commemorative Crios Cath medals. The player who does not receive a medal must immediately walk...into there!"

Chris motioned towards a large hill covered in sand, with a barely visible cave carved into the side of it. "The Tomb of Shame!" Chris smiled as a bat flew out of it.

"And you can rest easy knowing that you've lost your chance at winning this game for good. Any questions?"

Everyone rose their hands.

"Good!" Chris exclaimed. "Then let's start the votes! Zaiyrin, why don't you start us off?"

Zaiyrin cast his vote,

And Ellie after him,

Arnold after her,

Gran after him,

Ash after him,

And Cherry after her.

When Cherry had finished casting her vote, and sat back down, Chris went to go tally the votes.

"He takes longer than normal on purpose." Kaede informed them as she walked up to the bonfire pit.

"Kaede, why are you here?" Ellie asked.

Kaede pointed to a large tent a few desert hills away. "I wanted to say goodbye to the interns before I left." She responded. "But I'll stick around here because I know how tough it is to be at your first elimination ceremony. I was super worried when I went to my first one. In fact, a single vote changing, and I would have lost right then. So don't be like Victor and beat yourself up over your place. Be proud of the game you played, and proud you were chosen. I'd have loved to have competed with all of you. You have the ability to be a wonderful team. All of you. Remember that, please."

"Oh, it looks like Kaede's eased the tension a little." Chris grinned as he returned from tallying the votes. "I'll be sure to break that quickly enough with this! Ellie, Gran, Ash, the three of you are safe with 0 votes for each of you! Here's your medals!"

* * *

Confessional: Ellie: Team Inari

"Oh, oh thank goodness, I'm safe! Woo! Heehee!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Gran: Team Inari

"Well, that's one magic trick I didn't expect to pull off. No votes against me!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Ash: Team Inari

"Well, I was a little worried my klutziness would get the best of me, but it looks like my cheerful personality's saved me this time! I'll be sure to milk this chance for all its worth!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Arnold, Cherry, Zaiyrin…" Chris grinned. "You three each got votes.

In fact…

For the first time in Total Drama History...we have a 3 way tie!"

* * *

Confessional: Cherry: Team Inari

"Great! Just Great. Barring this ceremony, where we don't know each other very well, I was planning to just vote with the flow, but how do I go with the flow when everyone on this damn team is running in different directions?"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"Ah, yes, the three way tie. I've always wondered what would happen should more than two people tie in votes. So far, _my_ game has been going _exactly_ as I've planned."

End Confessional

* * *

"In the event of a 3 way tie or higher…" Chris opened a dusty rule book. "The tied contestants will state their cases for why they should be kept, and the remaining contestants then vote again on who to eliminate. The tied contestants do _not_ get to vote. If the vote remains a tie, the tied contestants will then compete in a footrace of a distance designated by the host, with the loser being the eliminated contestant."

He looked up from his book.

"So...Let's start with Cherry. Why should Team Inari keep you around?"

"Because I haven't done anything in any way to cost our team the challenge. Those who voted for me did so because they couldn't handle valid critique, and while yes, it may be a negative quality of mine, if given the chance, you will see my many positive qualities as well."

"Arnold?" Chris asked once he was sure that Cherry was finished.

"Girls and Gran…" Arnold began to sweat. "Have you _seen_ the competition I'm sitting next to? Zaiyrin was so great at strategy that he figured out the surefire way to make us _lose_ , and Cherry was here to keep morale at an all time high with her _constant_ complaining. I on the other hand, am _great_ with roasts and can actually keep our team's morale _up_. Pick me over these two, please."

"And Zaiyrin." Chris grinned.

"Ladies, Gentleman." Zaiyrin looked at Ash, Ellie, and Gran. "You just heard Arnold's piece did you not. Tell me, would you really keep him around when he will inevitably have to work with at least one of us for at least one more episode. He just voiced quite the distaste for the both of us. However, I can tell you right away that I have never met a girl as beautiful or been more smitten with than Cherry here. I love her outlook on my plans as that is what makes her all the more attractive to me. We as a pair have greater chemistry than either of us with Arnold could hope to accomplish, and our team surely will not lose again, as this loss was merely a fluke. That is my piece, and I hope it has reached your ears."

* * *

Confessional: Cherry: Team Inari

"Look, he can say he likes me all he wants, but I never noticed something like that." She begins to blush. "Still, I always _was_ fascinated with those boys who could be so unabashedly nerdy, and enjoying my teasing is a plus as well."

End Confessional

* * *

"Now that you've heard everyone say their piece." Chris turned to Ash, Ellie, and Gran. "Go ahead and cast your votes again."

Moments later, Chris had two more medals ready to be handed away.

"Good news, I've tallied the votes again, and _this_ time, there was a definite loser," he smirked "but, it's _not_ Cherry." He said as he tossed Cherry her medal.

"Arnold, Zaiyrin…" Chris held up the final medal.

"This is the final medal of the night…

And it goes to…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

"Zaiyrin." Chris said as he tossed Zaiyrin his medal and turned to Arnold.

"Sorry bro. Tough luck."

"You know what?" Arnold stood up. "That's fine. Like Kaede said, I'm proud of even being on this show, and if placing any higher meant having to act like either Zaiyrin or Cherry has, I'm glad I placed this low. I happen to have _standards_ after all!"

Kaede giggled as she brought her sleeve up to her mouth. "It looks like he managed to get one last roast in." She said as Arnold strutted into the Tomb of Shame, waving his red fedora behind him as if to bid his team a 'so long'.

"He was a good kid." Chris said as Kaede nodded. "I guess the nice guys really do finish last!" Chris laughed as Kaede's eyes widened and she shook her head.

"Don't say that so loudly, he might still be able to hear you!"

"Don't you have to, I dunno, _go back home_?" Chris asked, his patience with Kaede wearing thin.

"Aw come on, can't she host and you go home?" Gran asked.

"No, I wouldn't make a very good host." Kaede smiled. "It was nice to meet all of you, good luck!"

She gave them all a bow before leaving the area.

"And they're going to need the luck!" Chris announced into the camera.

"We have achieved lift off here at Total Drama Nialasach as our Feminine Ball Buster, Arnold, has just had his own balls busted. Can Team Inari recover?

Will Monica gain control of Team Hayaji?

Will Alison succeed in seducing Gabriel before Jenae's thoughts of him seduce herself?

Who is Aaron's obvious idol?

Find out the answer to a few of those questions next time on…

Total!

Drama!

Niiiiiiiiialasach!"

* * *

*Arnold's Final Confessional:

"I...I really wanted to get over my nervousness and make a bunch of friends and have a good time. I can only imagine all the Girls' Nights I'm going to miss out on now, and it really _really_ sucks to be the first one to leave, but you know what? I can also go home to the friends and family I do have and love already. One things for sure though, none of those Inari members are being invited into my cult anytime soon. Oh, it's not really a cult, it's just me and my siblings in snuggies playing video games. Oh hey! The Tomb of Shame has the same game station that I have at home! Sweet! Good luck to all my girlfriends out there on the other teams, except you Alison, you can do what you're best at and suck a dick!" Arnold snaps his fingers as he moves his head around sassily. "Arnold, out!"

End Confessional*

* * *

 _The Votes(for those who are curious)_

 _Arnold voted for...Cherry, NA(2nd time)_

 _Ash voted for...Zaiyrin, Arnold(2nd time)_

 _Cherry voted for...Arnold, NA(2nd time)_

 _Ellie voted for...Arnold, Arnold(2nd time)_

 _Gran voted for...Zaiyrin, Arnold(2nd time)_

 _Zaiyrin voted for...Cherry, NA(2nd time)_

* * *

 **AN:**

 **Whew, and that's a wrap on Episode 1.**

 **A HUGE Thank You to Michaelfang9 for sending in Arnold! I really REALLY loved him as a character, he was absolutely hilarious! Unfortunately, someone had to be the first to go, and well, Arnold's personality just clashed with the timing of everything a bit too much for me to justify keeping him over the others of his team. It pains me to see him go so early, but I did my best to do his personality justice for the whole time he was on the show. And he'll definitely be back for the finale, so there's that to look forward to.**

 **For those who wish to know, Arnold's alignment was: True Neutral**

 **Having gone over his actions this season, Arnold has been awarded the status of: Hero**

 **Why: Look, there wasn't much anyone could have done in the amount of time that the contestants were given before the first elimination, but Arnold successfully called out everyone on any bullshit he might have been present for, and he did so without remorse. Finally, he might have clearly been a little angry, but he left the game with dignity, in the best way he knew how, roasting people. He never lied, never cheated, never stole, heck, he didn't even** _ **try**_ **to look at Ellie's medal clue. So yeah, he gets to be a hero in my book. If only just barely, and I mean** _ **just**_ **barely.**

 **Arnold's Best Moment: In my opinion, I like his very first roast, the one of Chris, the best. I couldn't think of a more perfect way to introduce what his character was all about than that.**

 **But all of that's just me. What did you guys think of Arnold? What status would you give him? What do you think his best moment was?**

 **Alcott's Challenge is up next! Do you think he's finally showered since Zero Sum?**

 **Any predictions for things that might happen in the future?**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	8. Ep 2: Total Drama Potion Number 9

*Chris's Recap*

"Last time, on Total Drama Nialasach,

We brought in 24 all-new campers to a brand spanking new island in the north pacific that we've dubbed Crios Cath. After explaining that the rules of this season of Total Drama would follow the rules of Zero Sum, and that each Zero Sum contestant was the creator of at least one of this season's challenges, with the exception of the winner, who instead created the four teams.

Team Hayaji, consisting of Claude, Zaheen, Donny, Monica, Simon, and Christa,

Team Ebisu, consisting of Aaron, Rashi, Phooko, Mirai, Raul, and Vanessa,

Team Inari, consisting of Arnold, Ash, Zaiyrin, Cherry, Gran, and Ellie,

and Team Fudo, consisting of Mark, Erin, Gabriel, Jenae, Watts, and Alison.

The teams were then immediately thrust into their first challenge, courtesy of Zero Sum contestant Victor, where they had to race through dangerous ruins in an attempt to snatch camp luxuries, living areas, and even a few hidden immunity medal clues. In the end, the first team out was the water team, Ebisu, and thanks to Raul's spin of the Wheel of Reward, they won the last place team Inari's hot tub before they ever had a chance to even see it. At the first Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony, the votes were so all over the place that Total Drama's _first_ three-way tie occurred, prompting a re-vote during which Zaiyrin alleged feelings for Cherry as well as condemned Arnold's roasts of the other campers, which was enough to convince the rest of the team to send Arnold to the Tomb of Shame first. 23 contestants are still left in the game, but we'll be putting them at 22 soon enough. Who's about to choke their way out of the million dollars? Find out right now on

Total!

Drama!

Niiiiiiiiialasach!"

* * *

*Total Drama Theme Song Plays*

As the song starts, various camera come out of the flora and fauna all around the island.

 _ **Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine, you guys are on my mind**_

The camera zooms around all of Crios Cath before finally entering into the Nialasach Ruins.

 _ **You asked me what I wanted to be and now I think the answer is plain to see,**_

Aaron is on his skateboard, skating through the ruins, and as he moves forward, Claude can be seen following him, cleaning up the dust left by his skateboard tracks so that he can clear a path for Monica, who smiles at him, but ends up rolling her eyes, annoyed, when she's sure he isn't looking, and begins to pay attention to another part of the ruins, which the camera then shifts to.

 _ **I wanna be famous**_

Watts is looking over Erin's shoulder at an experiment she is working on, and she seems to be attempting to hide it from him, when the ruins wall explodes, causing Erin to fall back into Watts's arms before shoving herself out of them, the two then look over to see that the explosion was caused by Ash accidentally triggering a tripwire. She smiles and waves in an attempt to make the situation less embarrassing for her.

 _ **I want to live close to the sun**_

Camera switches to show Alison sitting on a beach chair and relaxing before waves come crashing in and ruin her clothes. She stands up with a huff and takes the beach chair further inland, but the same event happens, and she appears to let out a scream.

 _ **Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won**_

Camera shifts up to reveal that Simon and Arnold both saw Alison's ordeal, and while Simon starts to snicker at it, Arnold begins to flamboyantly tell Simon off, and Simon plugs his ears and walks away with rolling eyes.

 _ **Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day**_

Camera shifts to Upper Ceol Fields, where Zaiyrin is seen showering Cherry with all manner of gifts and compliments, and Cherry somewhat scoffs at them before blushing with a smile once Zaiyrin leaves and heading over to Ellie to talk excitedly with her about it while Ellie is working on a costume.

' _ **Cause I wanna be famous**_

Rashi and Phooko both see the events with Zaiyrin, Cherry, and Ellie, and quietly laugh to each other as they both tend to a small garden of growing plants, with Phooko's plants looking quite healthy, and Rashi's plants looking unnaturally perfect.

 _ **Na na nananana nanananana na nanananana**_

Camera shifts to the Glas Woods, where Raul and Vanessa are sketching each other with smiles. Camera first hovers over Raul's shoulder showing a brilliantly done sketch of Vanessa, then switches over to Vanessa's shoulder, where a sketch of Raul can be seen, but Vanessa needs to keep adding wolves to the sketch as they crowd around Raul like he's part of their pack.

 _ **I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous**_

Mark is playing music in Cailleach Bog, but immediately rolls out of the way of a falling tree, he looks over to see an almost seething Mirai, who turns to him and begins to smile sweetly as she begs him to play. Mark is a little nervous at first but as he begins to play, Mirai begins to cheer peacefully as the camera shifts to Lower Ceol Fields.

 _ **I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous**_

In Lower Ceol Fields, Donny and Gabriel are engaged in a rather heated argument, and Christa and Jenae both walk up to Donny and Gabriel respectively, Christa tries to comfort Donny, but he begins arguing with her instead. Meanwhile, Jenae begins to continue to argue with Gabriel, but he stops her when he notices she's moving her hand down his chest.

As the other contestants whistle the rest of the tune around the Tine Naofa Bonfire, Gran and Zaheen both attempt to make the fire grow larger. Upon Gran's attempt the fire blows up in his face, causing Zaheen to snicker as she pulls off the trick perfectly and the flames begin to from the season title: Total Drama Nialasach

* * *

 _Location: Cailleach Bog(Team Ebisu's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Mirai, Phooko, Rashi, Raul, Vanessa_

Raul nodded with pride as he finished his sketch and found a nearby tree to display it on.

"What a nice sketch of the team." Vanessa said quietly as she observed his artwork.

Raul scribbled a 'Thank you!' on his notepad and handed it to Vanessa.

* * *

Confessional: Raul: Team Ebisu

*The following is written on about 3 pages of notebook paper*

"I had decided before coming here that, after every challenge, I would do a complete sketch of everyone on the team, eliminated or not, to remind us all that we're in this together. So far, everyone on this team seems to like the idea of it, which is good to know. I doubt a team like Hayaji would feel the same way. In either case though, I'm feeling pretty good that not only did we win the first challenge, but I was the very first one out, got my team a hot tub, _and_ found a clue to the Water Immunity Medal, which I've already read, but I don't think looking for the medal now would be the best idea. As far as I can tell, it's located somewhere here in the bog, and well, I'm not sure how someone as big as I am can sneak in and out of our crowded campsite undetected."

End Confessional

* * *

"And so then we pat down the soil…" Rashi instructed Phooko as he helped her assemble a paddy. "And there we go! Our camp's very own garden paddy! Come on, let's go get some cranberries to grow!"

"But, we already have dinner given to us and a chicken coop for unlimited eggs for breakfast." Phooko realized. "Why grow cranberries at all?"

"I can think of two reasons." Aaron suggested from the chicken coop, where he and Mirai were feeding the chickens. "The first is that the paddy you're making isn't a camp luxury, so it won't be taken from us even if we lose the next four challenges in a row."

"Yeesh, don't say that. I don't want to end up like the _last_ water based team." Phooko responded. "What's the second reason though?"

"That's not my place to say." Aaron decided as he receded back into the chicken coop to talk to Mirai instead.

"Hey, after you're done feeding the chickens…"

"Yeah?" Mirai turned around and smiled. "What is it?"

Aaron gulped and took a breath.

"Would you like to take a walk around the island with me?"

"Mmm…" Mirai put a finger to her lip as she looked up and thought about it.

* * *

Confessional: Mirai: Team Ebisu

"Walks around the island? Isn't that the first stage of asking for an alliance? Am I gonna be in an alliance already? With someone smart like Aaron? Or what if he wants to share a medal clue with me? What would be the right thing to do in that context, keep it a secret or tell everyone about it? Or what if he's just doing this to keep me distracted? But….I don't _think_ he would do that. Should I say yes? Should I say sorry? Should I ask him why?"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"I consider myself a very strategic person, and likely the most strategic player on this team, possibly the entire cast, but Mirai is _really_ cute, and I'm not sure what else I could ask her to do that might have the undertones of a date. Once I'm sure where we stand on feelings I'll get better at the whole flirting thing, but right now, while things are all uncertain, I tend to seem a little awkward. Jeez, I hope I didn't blow it..."

End Confessional

* * *

"Well, okay!" Mirai smiled. "But only on the condition that we aren't doing anything related to the game while we walk!"

"That's _perfect_!" Aaron smiled back as he held out a hand and Mirai took it.

"Heh, it's kind of funny isn't it?" Phooko asked Rashi as they both got up to head out and look for cranberries. "How this team seems to have paired its members together without any real effort."

"It's to be expected. The otters were hunting in pairs today when I woke up." Rashi responded as though it explained everything.

"No, I mean like, it's weird that everyone on the team so naturally paired up with-"

"Yeah, but the otters were-"

"What does that even have to do with any of this?" Phooko scratched his head.

"I divine the future by looking at nature and its surroundings." Rashi boasted with a smile. "In fact, you should be happy Phooko. The water favors you."

* * *

Confessional: Phooko: Team Ebisu

"It's like, half the time Rashi talks, it's some goofy joke or passionate rally, but the other half she just says this cryptic crud. The water favors me? I had zero clue what she means by that, so…"

End Confessional

* * *

"Alright, I'll bite." Phooko sighed. "What does that mean?"

"Pretty much what I said." Rashi shrugged. "The water favors you above say, I dunno, Mirai, just as an example."

"But that's not very specific and-"

"Divining the future is a skill that takes time and patience to master, and even old ass ladies full of portent potential have trouble giving complete specifics of future events. The future's ever-changing, so what may be true one moment, may not be true the next. All we do is give the most likely outcomes."

"So, think you can divine whether we will win the next challenge or not then?" Phooko asked.

Rashi gave a large "pffft."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Phooko's eyes narrowed.

"It means every oracle or psychic, or fortune teller worth their salt knows that you can't divine events that directly deal with the diviner. Our own biases would get in the way. For instance, I want to win challenges, so if I see certain signs I might accidentally interpret them as victory instead of something unrelated, and then because we feel victory is assured, we lose. When it doesn't deal with me directly, I'm able to remain neutral."

"Ah, alright, yeah, I get it." Phooko nodded.

"Okay, how about...how about this...How many cranberries are we going to find to bring back here?"

"Oh that's an easy one, all of them." Rashi grinned playfully.

"That's not what I meant and you know it!" Phooko laughed.

"Hey look!" Vanessa pointed, capturing the attention of Raul, Rashi, and Phooko as they gathered around her and looked in the direction she was pointing.

A pair of grey wolves were taking care of about 4 grey wolf cubs.

Raul was somewhat taken aback when one of the wolf parents glared directly at him and slowly revealed one of the four cubs. It was larger than the others, and it seemed to have a physical throat injury.

"Not quite a burn…" Vanessa whispered to Raul "But it's a wolf that probably won't be able to speak without hurting itself, kind of like you."

"It wants you to pet it." Rashi said as she looked between Raul and the wolves.

* * *

Confessional: Raul: Team Ebisu

*The following is written on a piece of notepad paper*

"I...I made a joke in my interview about something like this happening, but I didn't think it actually _would_ happen. Next I'm probably going to be given some sort of nickname that has to do with wolves, just wait."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Upper Ceol Field(Team Inari's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Ash, Cherry, Ellie, Gran, Zaheen, Zaiyrin_

"Ah, so it was the walking tumblr account who was first to go." Zaheen felt the rim of her hat as she walked up to where Team Inari was mourning the loss of their Hot Tub before they had even gained the chance to use it.

"What are you doing here?" Gran asked raising an eyebrow. "Isn't your team's camp on the other side of the highlands?"

"I've had enough of getting to know _my_ team, darling." Zaheen grinned. "It's everyone else I'm interested in getting to know now. So, how is camp life amongst the wheat fields?"

"It's pretty cool, I think." Ellie responded. "Considering that the deity our team is named after watched over rice fields, and this is basically as close as we're going to get on this island, it feels like we're supposed to live in this area anyways."

"An interesting view, darling." Zaheen grinned. "I wish I could say the same of our team's poor choice of campsite. It's pretty cold in the mountains and, well, if it weren't for the cabin, we might all be in the snow."

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"Aha! And there it is, the definitive proof that our team's health is superior to at least one other team. If Hayaji is just a single challenge loss away from sleeping in the snow, the second the lose even one, they could easily lose the rest. It's for the best too, since that team contains that Donny character, and Monica seems untrustworthy to a master strategist such as myself as well. Even Zaheen who gave us this knowledge is someone to watch out for. Team Inari's loss of a hot tub and 6th member is unfortunate, but by no means a game ending situation. The Earth team will endure."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Zaheen: Team Hayaji

"To be perfectly frank, the main reason I came over to this team first was to sneak a peek at that Gran. He claims to be a magician, and I'm interested to see who has the better repertoire of illusions and feats. So far, I've noticed him get wheat up his nose, fall on a sharp rock covered up by the growing wheat, and almost destroy the charcoal grill in an attempt to light it. I can't help but feel disappointed. I was hoping for a more entertaining magic rival."

End Confessional

* * *

*Crash*

Everyone present looked over to see that Ash had tripped over the grill that Inari couldn't use without the charcoal in Hayaji's possession.

"It's all good, don't worry about a thing!" Ash announced with a thumbs up to everyone looking.

"We're living in the middle of a wheat field, how did you even manage to trip?" Cherry rose an eyebrow.  
"It's not like the terrain is completely flat though, you know?" Ash seemed unaffected by Cherry's impulsive critique. "'Sides, no damage has been done to me or the luxury, so no harm no foul."

"I suppose." Cherry sighed as she noticed Zaiyrin giving her a smile, before leaving the area, to where Ellie was snooping around in the wheat.

"Are we impersonating a fox?" She asked, startling Ellie who jumped up and turned around to face her.

"What? No! I was just looking for something I dropped around here I think!"

"Oh?" Cherry asked. "Well, Zaiyrin's stare and Zaheen's friendly chatting has me wanting to be further away from the main camp as well. I'll help you if you want."

"Um…." Ellie massaged her temples, trying to think about the best course of action to take.

"Okay!" She grinned. "You can help. This morning...I found it."

Cherry did not need to know what 'it' was.

"Well then, I suppose this puts us in an alliance of sorts doesn't it?" She inquired.

"Well, yeah." Ellie shrugged with a smile. "You seem smart and...I'm not sure what the word I'm looking for is…"

"Sweet? Charming?" Cherry asked with a sly, joking smirk.

"Funny maybe." Ellie laughed. "No...I mean...like... _sincere_. A kind of sincerity that Zaiyrin doesn't have, and with Ash and Gran being Ash and Gran, you're definitely the most reliable to me, does...does that make sense to you?"

"It most certainly does." Cherry smiled as she extended a hand. "I'll help you find your missing idol, and we'll stick together as best we can for the rest of the game."

* * *

Confessional: Cherry: Team Inari

"There is something true in all of life, if one cares to look, and that is the tendency of the quiet, nerdy types to achieve great status while the rest of us underestimate them. Well, not me. I don't underestimate the initially quiet, slightly nerdy people. In fact, now that I've allied with Ellie, the rest of them are my biggest threats. I'm talking players like Watts, Simon, and Phooko. They have a tendency to get further in things than one would expect, and I doubt Ellie is any exception."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Ellie: Team Inari  
"So...I've got this alliance with Cherry now! Woohoo! Not alone in the game! Now we just need to find the Fox Medal before someone else does and we'll be home free!"

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Cloch Mountain Range(Team Hayaji's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Christa, Claude, Donny, Monica, Simon, Zaheen_

"Are you done with your field trip?" Monica asked as Zaheen returned to her team's campsite.

"For now." Zaheen nodded. "I've also gathered information about teams Fudo and Inari that may come in useful for future challenges, darling, so I suggest we not act like I'm the bad guy."

"Well, we don't need to know or care about those two teams, okay?" Donny responded. "The team we need to beat is that Ebzoo. They're obviously cheating somehow and you need to get to the bottom of it...Simon."

"Me?" Simon rose an eyebrow. "If you want someone to walk all the way down to the bog and look for contestants that may not even be there right now, let it be the wandering illusionist girl. I'm busy keeping the fire going."

"The warm bog? I'll head down there in a jiffy, darling." Zaheen agreed.

"No." Donny shook his head. "The women can't do a thing to save them if they wanted to. Other than giving us guys some comfort in the mountain, I can't trust them to do anything, and Claude is busy cleaning my cabin. You have to go Simon."

Simon stood up, gave Donny a glare, and left towards the bog.

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"My patience is wearing too thin with him, so this break will probably do me some good anyways. I can work with all kinds of people, but people who refuse to adapt or leave their comfort zone can't be relied upon in the game and should be eliminated swiftly. And hey, I'll start another fire with some of the charcoal in another part of the mountains. That way, when the fire at camp inevitably goes out due to lack of anyone tending it, I won't starve. I suppose I'll save enough for the rest of the team as well, but I'll make sure that the ones who matter know it was thanks to _my_ thinking ahead, and not dumb luck."

End Confessional

* * *

"Say, Claude, do you want any help cleaning the house?" Christa asked, uncomfortable being outside with Donny.  
"It is not required, but I would welcome the companionship." Claude responded.  
"In that case she's not moving a muscle." Donny squinted. "I'm on to you, okay?"

"On to me?" Christa gasped in shock.

Monica's eyebrow rose.

"That's right." Donny continued to spew hot air. "I know you're the biggest liability to the success of this team. So sad."

"I'll admit, the team mom persona can and does often hide a dark and sinister side." Monica added fuel to the fire Donny had created.

"I'm not up to anything!" Christa stood up. "We're a team, and I believe that if we work together, we'll do well! I don't want to vote any of you off if I can help it!"

"Well, then you've already lost." Donny relaxed. "Alright? You're the worst Haji, ok? And I'm going to be the last Haji, and I know I'm going to be the last Haji because no one else here is as good at winning as I am. I'm the best at it."

"You're the best and making it hard for me to concentrate on cleaning the cabin!" Claude called from inside the cabin.

"Come on everyone, fighting won't solve anything." Monica smiled, though her eyes hid a more wicked intent. "Let's just make up, and apologize to each other alright?"

"But there was never even a fight to begin with…" Christa noted, only for Donny to jump on the opportunity.

"And there we have it, she doesn't even want to apologize for the way she's been bringing everyone down! Sad!"

"I'm not bringing anyone down! I haven't said a negative thing to or about anyone!"

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"With Claude in the cabin, Zaheen not truly caring, and Simon occupied with...whatever job Donny's sent him on, I've got the perfect opportunity to force discontent between Donny and Christa. _Obviously_ Christa's done nothing wrong, but as long as Donny feels he has a target he can beat that isn't me, I'm safe another day. Besides, now it will be easier to blame their misfortune on each other instead of any of the rest of us messing up. I guess I might feel a little bad throwing Christa under the bus like this, but as long as we have a real team mom around, I can't pretend to be one. Once I get rid of both of these two fighters, I'll be able to truly put my game into high gear."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Neart Highlands(Team Fudo's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Alison, Erin, Gabriel, Jenae, Mark, Mirai, Watts_

"Hey look!" Mirai pointed as she tugged Aaron's arm. "It's the Fudo campsite! Let's go say hi!"

"I'd rather we-" Aaron looked at where the sun was in the sky. He was about to suggest they head back to camp and prepare for the next challenge but Mirai was already tugging him towards the Fudo campsite, and the bruise on his other arm had taught him that Mirai was _not_ fond of being ignored or denied arbitrarily.

"Oh, it's the _fish_ again." Alison noticed Mirai and Aaron walking up to the campsite.

"Ebisu is here? We're on opposite ends of the island." Watts got up off the couch that most of Fudo was resting on. He looked over at Gran, Jenae, and Mark, who were still on the couch, and at Erin, who was off in the distance tinkering with something. She momentarily looked back at Watts and gave a 'what?' gesture, before returning to whatever it was that had her so occupied. Watts sighed, and headed over to greet the Ebisu members.

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"Well, if Erin's over there, and the rest of the team is on the couch, I'd rather it be me talking to Ebisu than Alison. That team _won_ the first challenge, so I'd rather not give them an excuse to vilify us."

End Confessional

* * *

"Hello!" Aaron waved. "Sorry to intrude on you like this! We were just going on a walk and well, here we are!"

Gabriel furrowed his brow as he put a hand to his chin, covering his mouth, and began to contemplate from the couch.

"What's wrong, mr. politics?" Jenae asked as she noticed his shift in posture.

"I'm just curious about something." Gabriel mumbled. "Namely, if they're looking for an immunity medal."

"Immunity medal…" Jenae repeated before standing up. She looked over at Watts, who was busy entertaining Aaron and Mirai, and then over at Mark, who was staring her down.

* * *

Confessional: Mark: Team Fudo

"Jenae gave Watts and I a pretty rough time during the first challenge and ended up taking the immunity medal clue from us before we could read it. Watts has usually been the one to look out for her moving or doing anything, but now that he's entertaining guests, it's up to Mark Galaxy to orbit our clue-snatcher."

End Confessional

* * *

Jenae sat back down and looked over at Gabriel again. "Any results yet?"

"I don't think they're looking for one, but something about them appearing here at all still feels off. I don't know…"

* * *

Confessional: Jenae

"Damn, I didn't think the musician hippy would be keeping this close an eye on me. I'm glad I'm not an impulsive idiot like that Alison bitch otherwise I'd have to kiss my idol goodbye the minute I found it."

End Confessional

* * *

"So, how are things going on your end of the island?" Watts asked, as he continued to chat with Aaron and Mirai.

"They're going well. Chickens are all healthy, Rashi and Phooko have started a garden. We're well fed and hydrated as well, so that's a plus. Mattresses aren't that good though." Aaron answered honestly. "If we had to lose any of our luxuries besides the hot tub, it'd definitely be the mattresses."

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"Smart and cunning people have the ability to sense the presence of other smart and cunning people, and boy, is Team Fudo full of them, but Watts in particular stands out to me personally. He's quite clearly a fan of the first trilogy, as am I, which makes me believe he'll...he'll be fun to play with."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"So far, the two contestants who have caught my attention the most are Erin, our resident scientist, who just this morning kept me at a 40 meter distance when I tried to talk to her for what she only elaborated as 'safety' procedures, and Aaron, Team Ebisu's...Is he their leader? He seems like it. Something about him feels familiar to me, two former contestants in particular come to mind, both from Zero Sum, and if he's anything like either one of them, that's a little concerning, but I'm not going to worry myself over it when I don't need to. In any case, he's definitely smart, so I'm going to need my guard up around him going forward, but he's friendly enough. My biggest concern right now anyways is Jenae, in terms of enemies. That said, I'd prefer Fudo _win_ the next challenge or something, you know, like the Raging Flames were known to do?"

End Confessional

* * *

"Aaron…" Mirai tugged on Aaron's arm, realizing that he was more interested in talking with Watts than she would like. "Let's go back to camp, alright?"

"Back to camp?" Chris drove up in an ATV. "That's a good call! In fact…" He turned on a microphone on his chest, leaned into it, and announced "Everyone, meet me at the Team Ebisu campsite in Cailleach Bog! It's _Challenge_ Time!"

* * *

 _Location: Cailleach Bog(Team Ebisu's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): All Remaining_

"Ick, all these _bugs_!" Alison swatted at dragon flies and gnats hovering around her.

"Is the princess really that scared of something she can squash with two fingers?" Jenae mocked.

"Hey…" Watts walked up to Erin. "What were you working on back at camp?"

"I was setting up my own. The mesas in the highlands are perfect for-" She stopped. "Oh, I see what this is. Give up."  
"Give up what? I was just curious as to what had your attention, even when the team from the other side of the island came over to visit."

Erin remained silent for a few minutes, before finally answering with a single word. "Rocks."

"Ugh…" Gran plugged his nose. "What's that smell?"

"That smell…" Chris grinned "Is _this_!" He snapped his fingers and Chef walked through the trees, bringing out a barrel full of foul-smelling plants and bugs. "Today's challenge belongs to Zero Sum's social outcast, and first eliminated of The Screaming Winds, Alcott, and boy was he ever the pig-pen!"

"What do you mean was?" Chef snickered as he pulled Alcott himself out of the barrel.

"And to think I had actually cleaned myself up to present the challenge…" Alcott sighed as he tried, and failed, to brush all the disgusting wildlife off of him.

* * *

Confessional: Ash: Team Inari

Ash is plugging her nose tightly. "Man! _He_ made our challenge? I am _not_ looking forward to whatever it is. Dude was the stinkiest thing in that barrel. Did he not use soap when he cleaned himself up earlier? Or was the whole thing a lie?"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"So, Alcott is still the human skunk we saw him as last season huh? Though if he _did_ try to clean himself up, I wouldn't put it past Chris and Chef to dirty him up again for the sake of familiarity. Or even just to be mean. They tend to be pretty mean."

End Confessional

* * *

"Today's challenge…" Alcott spoke and began to gesture as most of the contestants fought the urge to gag while the movement of his body caused his odor to waft in their direction, "Is a very simple one, I think. Inside that barrel that I was so rudely put in is a specimen of every edible thing on Crios Cath that is also foul-smelling. Note that when I say edible, I do not mean enjoyable, only that eating it won't kill you…" He looked over at Chris, and then looked back to correct himself. "...probably."

"So what do we have to do?" Claude asked "And will I be getting my suit dirty?"

"Maybe." Alcott shrugged. "It depends really...because for the first part of your challenge, each team is going to make what Chris has told me to call 'Traditional Crios Cath Energy Shakes'. You'll be given a set amount of time to scour the entire island for anything you see in the barrel, some of which do live in muddy areas, but many of which live in trees, or in more coarse soil. That said, the _most_ foul-smelling ones live here in the bog. When the time limit is up, everyone on your team blends whatever they've managed to grab together into a 'Traditional Crios Cath Energy Shake'. And there's a bonus involved to the team that manages to make the most foul smelling one! After which, we'll move on to the second part of the challenge."

"Great job explaining, Alcott." Chris grinned as he took over. "Now, contestants...any last wor- I mean, any questions?"

No one had anything they needed answered.

"Then without further ado…" Chris held up an air horn and blew it. "Go!"

* * *

 _Challenge:_

 _Teams must scour Crios Cath looking for foul-smelling wildlife to blend together in what Chris calls a Traditional Crios Cath Energy Shake. Once a 2 hour time limit is up, each team's total amount of gathered wildlife will be blended together into a shake, with the most foul-smelling shake will earn an advantage in the second part of the challenge._

* * *

 _Location: Ionad Desert_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Ash, Claude, Gran, Jenae, Monica, Phooko, Watts_

 _Time Remaining: 2 hours_

"It's so hot out here!" Gran wiped his forehead of massive amounts of sweat. "Are you sure this was the best place to go, Ash?"  
"I'm as positive as I can be. I _saw_ one of them when we were at Tine Naofa last week." She responded. "And here in the desert, there's less to trip over, and everything is fairly easy to see."

"I guess that's as good a reason as any." Gran nodded.

"I propose we all work together, if that's agreeable with everyone here." Monica said as she and Claude walked along dunes of sand. "We obviously all came here looking for the iron pseudoscorpion. If we all search together, we can alert the rest of us when we find a nest."

"Yeah, that sounds like a great idea if we're a bunch of idiots." Jenae responded as she nudged Watts in the shoulder. "Isn't that right, Watts? We'll be able to find these scorpions ourselves!"

"Pseudoscorpions actually." Phooko corrected her while Aaron snickered about it beside him. "And the particular species of animal we're looking for is actually more closely related to small spiders than-"

"We've got no time to listen to the blabbering of the competition!" Jenae said as she began to pick up the pace. "Come on Watts, hurry up if you know what's good for you!"

"You might want to hurry." Aaron looked over at Watts.

"Yeah, I definitely want to hurry." Watts nodded as he began to pick up the pace in an effort to catch up to Jenae.

"Do you two know each other from somewhere or something?" Phooko asked Aaron once the Fudo pair was out of eyesight.

"No. We're just both fans of the show." Aaron shrugged before turning to Monica. "But hey, Monica, we'll take you up on your offer!"

"You will?" Monica asked, surprised.

"We will?" Phooko asked, equally surprised.

"Pseudoscorpions are very small." Aaron whispered. "It would do us good to have a butler's eye to help find them."

"So that was the angle." Phooko quietly laughed.

"Just making sure you didn't walk into the desert for nothing." Aaron patted Phooko on the back. "I'm heading down to the bog and using the split-up search as a cover for it."

"Why back down to the bog?"

"Well…" Aaron massaged the bruise on his arm. "I feel like Mirai would rather she have some company."

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"Obviously, I ran ahead to get a few moments of alone time so I can figure out my plan of action for finding the Sword Immunity Medal. Luckily, I managed to find something before Watts caught up to me."

End Confessional

* * *

"Jenae, I know you're around here somewhere!" Watts called out as he ran into the area where Jenae was crouching behind a dune.

"Hey!" She motioned him over. "I did it! I found the pseudo-things!"

"What?!" Watts rushed over to where Jenae was crouching and confirmed that she had indeed found the pseudoscorpions they were looking for. "Quickly, put as many as you can into your barrel!"

Jenae nodded and began to furiously gather pseudoscorpions, keeping an eye on Watts, and when she was finally sure he was busy looking at the den instead of at her, she slipped away.

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"I'm getting that idol, boys, and I'm going to be sure to use it in a far more effective way than either of you ever could."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Cailleach Bog_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Cherry, Donny, Erin, Gabriel, Mirai, Zaheen, Zaiyrin_

 _Time Remaining: 1 hour 30 minutes_

"How much do you have, Cherry?" Ellie asked.

"Enough." Cherry replied through a pinched nose. "And also…"

She held up a small golden medal depicting a fox walking through wheat fields.

"We've found it. It appears you've chosen the correct girl to align with, doesn't it?"

"Woo!" Ellie cheered with a grin as Cherry hid the idol back in her clothes. "But hey, how about we get Zaiyrin in on this too? He certainly exclaimed a fondness for you at Tine Naofa…"

"I'd rather we not." Cherry's brow furrowed. "But if we're to disgrace the Bechdel test on live television, my honest opinion is that it seemed to straightforward for someone like him."

"So he's got no chance, huh?" Ellie giggled.  
"Well…" Cherry crossed her arms. "I wouldn't say that yet either. I'm simply waiting to see if he was sincere or full of hot air."

"How are you doing in terms of odorous creatures, Erin?" Gabriel asked.

"Creatures, I have none of." Erin replied. "I'm sticking with plants. They're the far easier organism to catch."

"Gaaaaabrieeeeeellllllll~" Alison sang as she brushed through the trees, and pretended to get stuck between some branches. "Could you please help me out? *teehee*~"

* * *

Confessional: Erin: Team Fudo

"Subtle." Erin rolls her eyes.

End Confessional

* * *

"Nah...hang on a sec." Donny appeared on the scene. "You doan wan him tah' help you, okay? I'm way stronger, way better at this than he is…"

"Look man, she's yours to pursue." Gabriel rose his hands up. "But I can't just sit there and let you talk shit about me like that."

"I'm going to leave before this gets too stupid for me." Erin announced as she left, while neither boy seemed to be paying much attention to her.

"Donny." Zaheen noticed who and what had Donny occupied as she talked to herself and shook her head. "What are you doing, darling?"

"It appears as though your Barbarian and Team Fudo's Paladin are about to compete in the false rescue of the Charlatan Bard." Zaiyrin offered his opinion. "If Donny mentions his reserves of money of course, he will come out victorious, most likely."

"An interesting observation, darling. You are an alert one aren't you?"

"Oh I am one of the most alert!" Zaiyrin exlcaimed. "If I were you, I'd keep a villain or two on your team around a leash. But I suppose it matters not since they'll all be defeated by me eventually."

"You think you can defeat all the villains?"

"I know I can. I'm a level 100 strategist after all. I've unlocked the best skills for the job!"

"Well, I certainly wish you the best of luck in those endeavors." Zaheen smiled as she noticed Donny following Alison and Gabriel into the Glas Woods. "I'll see you around, Inari Fox."

* * *

Confessional: Zaheen: Team Hayaji

"And now I know who to talk to when I'm dealing with a villainous contestant. This illusionist is going all the way to the top after all."

End Confessional

* * *

"Now then…" Zaiyrin said as he plucked a few more flowers. "This should be enough." He muttered to himself as he walked over to Cherry and Ellie, while Mirai and Aaron, once again being tugged by the arm, picked plants of their own.

"Ahem, for the girl whose observant and reliable personality captured my heart!" He exclaimed to Cherry as he held up a small bouquet of violets.

Ellie gasped as she clasped her hands over her mouth with wide eyes and looked at Cherry, who seemed equally surprised by the action.

"I ask that a goddess such as yourself please consider doing me the favor of going out with me!"

Cherry remained stumped for a while before slowly bringing her hands up to her temples and massaging them. "And and what point did this take priority over gathering odorous things for the challenge?" Cherry finally asked.

"Cherry, I cannot perform to my best ability while this uncertainty rings in my mind like the thousands of cheers you must receive whenever you perform in your circus." Zaiyrin didn't skip a beat.

"Well...perhaps there's hope for you." Cherry admitted. "...I'll give you a chance, but I will end it should I suspect any insincerity, or that you are obsessing too much with moi and not enough with winning challenges."

"Awwww…" Mirai's grip on Aaron's arm tightened as she looked at him, expectantly.

"W-what is it?"  
"Well?!" Mirai gestured. "I'm waiting too!"

"Whoa, wait, you want me to-? Are you sure? I mean, I'd like to get to know you a bit more before-"  
"Come on Aaron, can't we just skip all the drama and get right to the ending? You like me right? Right?!"

"Y-yes…"

"Then ask me the fuck out already! Don't do any of this around the bush nonsense!"

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"W-wow….Just...wow….What a woman."

End Confessional

* * *

"Alright...Mirai...will you go out with me?" He asked, wincing.

"Eeeeeeeeee!" Mirai squealed, making a far bigger deal out of it than Zaiyrin had made of his proposition to Cherry. "Yes! Yay!"

"You know…" Aaron realized. "We should probably gather our team together to see how much of everything we've caught. Could you go get Phooko from the Ionad desert and bring him back here? I'll look for the others."

"Alright…" Mirai smiled at him, in somewhat of a daze as he left towards Glas Woods.

* * *

 _Location: Glas Woods_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Alison, Christa, Donny, Gabriel, Jenae, Mark, Rashi, Raul, Simon, Vanessa, Zaheen_

 _Time Remaining: 45 Minutes_

"Thanks for saving me from those awful bog trees, Gabriel…" Alison clung to Gabriel's arm as they walked through the woods.

"Don't mention it." Gabriel replied with a blushing red face.

"He only did it 'cuz he was afraid I'd make him look weak, okay?" Donny asked. "And you know what? I turned out to be right!"

"Um...how?" Gabriel asked, confused. "In what way were you proven right about anything? You can't just spew hot air and expect her to take your word for it."

"Yeah, we'll she's gonna leave you for me when she finds out that I'm loaded. I own multiple businesses, all of which are very successful, and I have a ton of money."

"A ton of money?" Alison's eyes began to flicker. "Now Gabriel, let's not get defensive over the truth…"

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel: Team Fudo

"Such disgusting people I have to deal with today...I know who my vote goes for if we lose, and Hayaji can thank Donny for my new bias against them."

End Confessional

* * *

"How are we doing, Hayaji?" Zaheen asked as she came across Simon and Christa, both with barrels full of odorous wildlife.

"We've been hard at work!" Christa responded proudly. "We'll probably be able to win this challenge if everyone else has even half as much as we do!"

"I'd have to agree with you there." Simon looked around at the other contestants. "Everyone else has been moving around between the biomes and wasting time that could have been spent filling their barrels."

Meanwhile, Aaron was checking up on Rashi, Raul, and Vanessa.

"So, how are you guys doing?"

"Read it and weep!" Rashi hefted her barrel and let Aaron peer inside.

"I'm doing pretty well too." Raul scribbled on his notepad.

"Same here." Vanessa announced.

Aaron spent a little longer looking at Raul's barrel than the other two, and nodded. "Here's my haul!" He showed them his own barrel. "Phooko and Mirai both should have some pretty good hauls as well."

"You think we can win two challenges in a row?" Rashi asked, excitedly.

"We just might!" Aaron laughed.

"Oh great, do you hear that?" Jenae asked as she walked near Mark and Watts. "The fish think they can win twice in a row!"

"Well, we're here to prove they can't!" Mark announced. "There's no tomorrow without today, so they shouldn't plan for it when the day hasn't ended yet!"

"That's some good spirit! Keep that!" Jenae ordered.

"This doesn't, however, solve the problem that you ran off on me during the challenge." Watts confronted her. "You weren't looking for the Immunity Medal were you?"

"If I wanted to go looking for the Immunity Medal, I would. Neither you nor Guitar Hero here could physically stop me. I wouldn't be that obvious. If you must know, the amount of pseudoscorpions was creeping me out. I was all like 'heeeeellll no.' I wasn't going to put up with that shit for much longer, so I bailed to go look for plants instead. It would do you some good to have faith in your teammates. If you really, _really_ don't believe me, I'll read the clue aloud to everyone on the team after the challenge is over."

"No...you don't have to do that…" Watts rose his hands to give a 'calm down' gesture.

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"I don't huh?" Jenae holds out a hand and reveals a golden medal depicting a sword wreathed in flames. "I guess it'll save the others some disappointment when they don't find it. Yeah, I lied, but they don't need to know that, do they? As long as I act like this a witch-hunt, Watts's conscience and Mark's go with the flow nature will lay off of me. Damn these losers are easier to play than a fiddle."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"I'm...I'm not an idiot. I've _seen_ earlier seasons. She's obviously lying, and was clearly looking for the medal. The problem is...I can't give out that information carelessly without putting a target on my own back as well, and I certainly would rather be on the same side as an medal than the side against it, but then the problem becomes the immunity medal's owner. I don't want to align with someone like Jenae, and I'm pretty sure Mark doesn't want to either."

End Confessional

* * *

"Hey Raul…" Aaron said as Ebisu began to head back. "Is there a reason you seemed to have an average number of bugs and plants compared to Vanessa? I feel like you ought to have out-performed her, being able to reach more areas than she could."

Raul scribbled on his notebook.

"Sorry man, it's kind of hard to remain focused with the smell. Don't worry about it, I'll be doing a better job next challenge."

"Yeah, I guess I'm just being a little paranoid is all." Aaron shrugged. "Sorry man, didn't mean to crack down on you like that."

"All good :)" Raul wrote on his notepad.

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

Aaron is fiddling with his shark tooth necklace as he thinks while sitting on the toilet, looking up at the ceiling of the confessional. "Ah-ha!" He makes a realization and snaps his fingers. He leans back and shakes his head with a knowing smile. "It's always the quiet ones."

End Confessional

* * *

"Attention teams, time is up!" Chris announced. "Please return back to the Ebisu Campsite where Alcott will reward the most foul-smell concoction and explain the second part of your challenge!"

* * *

 _Location: Cailleach Bog(Team Ebisu's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): All Remaining_

After each Traditional Crios Cath Energy Shake had been created, Chirs wheeled out a modified version of the drama-bot, now clearly meant to measure the odor of objects.

"This special guy will rate your beverages on a stink scale from 1 to 100, 1 being 'were you even trying?' and 100 being 'now _this_ is a Traditional Crios Cath Energy Shake! Alcott should be proud'" Chris announced.

"I don't like that you portray me as proud to smell bad." Alcott crossed his arms. "I even attempted to clean up for this episode but you-"

"Let's start with Team Hayaji…" Chris announced as he ushered the robot up to the barrel of Hayaji's concoction.

"Huh…" He sighed. "Hayaji comes in with a not at all solid 25. We got anyone to blame for this?"

"Chrishta." Donny immediately replied.

"Whoa, hold on." Simon calmly disagreed. "I was with her the whole time, our barrels were both full of disgustingly odorous plants and bugs. Donny's however, was relatively empty compared to everyone else's."

"That's a fair point to make." Monica mentioned, silently relishing the discontent between her two biggest threats she had created.

"In any case…" Chris pushed the robot along. "Ebisu...you're up next with a…

…

33?"

"We...we don't get it either." Phooko scratched his head.

"This...might be my fault…" Aaron shrugged. "Remember when I claimed I was a good cook? I think I might have...you know…"

"Well, that's unfortunate for you, Ebisu." Chris laughed. "Let's see if Inari's made a beverage worthy of the stink-o-meter! They have a…

…

A 63! That's a huge jump up! Inari in the lead!"

* * *

Confessional: Gran: Team Inari

"It feels great to actually be in the lead for once! Let's keep this up! Maybe even win our hot tub back!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Finally…" Chris turned towards Team Fudo. "Fudo...let's see if you've got what it takes to measure up! Stink-o-meter says…

…

…

…

58! Good, but not enough! Inari wins the first part of the challenge!"

After the consecutive cheers from Inari died down, Alcott explained Inari's reward.

"Inari...as a reward for claiming 1st place...one of your team members is allowed to sit out the next part of the challenge, which is, of course...drinking your creations! Each team member must swallow an entire glass of a random concoction completely, and at the end, the team with the largest amount of contests who failed to keep their drink down will head to the Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony, and will give up a Camp Luxury to the winning team!"

* * *

Confessional: Donny: Team Hayaji

"Looks like Haji should be _thanking_ me now, huh? We might not have to drink as disgusting a glass as the other teams. They're lucky I knew this would happen, okay? They're really lucky."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"Great, so it's random which team's concoction we have to drink from. Donny has, in all likelihood, handed another team the win with his selfish laziness, and I'll be sure to bring this up if we head to Tine Naofa."

End Confessional

* * *

"Inari is sitting Ash out then." Ash herself said after Inari counseled among themselves.

* * *

Confessional: Ash: Team Inari

"The last thing we want is for me to break a glass and lose us the challenge that way, after all."

End Confessional

* * *

 _The Contestants and which team's concoction they've been (secretly) assigned:_

 _Claude: Hayaji_

 _Zaheen: Ebisu_

 _Donny: Hayaji_

 _Monica: Hayaji_

 _Simon: Inari_

 _Christa: Inari_

 _Aaron: Ebisu_

 _Rashi: Fudo_

 _Phooko: Ebisu_

 _Mirai: Ebisu_

 _Raul: Inari_

 _Vanessa: Fudo_

 _Zaiyrin: Hayaji_

 _Cherry: Fudo_

 _Gran: Fudo_

 _Ellie: Fudo_

 _Mark: Ebisu_

 _Erin: Hayaji_

 _Gabriel: Ebisu_

 _Jenae: Inari_

 _Watts: Inari_

 _Alison: Fudo_

* * *

"Alright, Team Hayaji…" Chris said as he handed everyone on the team their assigned glass.

"Drink!"

Claude drank first, and swallowed his drink without much problem. Encouraged by this, Christa, Simon, and Monica all went next, and they all succeeded as well.

Zaheen gulped as she looked at her drink and slowly brought it up to her lips.

* * *

Confessional: Zaheen: Team Hayaji

"I have a very weak stomach darling, I'd rather I not drink unknown substances if I can help it."

End Confessional

* * *

Zaheen couldn't help but puke up her beverage, causing Donny to shake his head in disapproval as he began to down his own...before immediately spitting it out and pouring the contents of his glass on the ground.

"That was obviously the worst one! This challenge is rigged!" He exclaimed.

"Donny, Donny, dude, that was your own team's concoction!"

"It was sabotaged by Chrishta then!" He rationalized, unable to accept his own incompetence.

 _Team Hayaji Total Failure Count: 2(Zaheen and Donny)_

* * *

"Team Ebisu…" Chris handed out the drinks again, this time to the Ebisu members. "Let's see what you've got! As long as only one of you fails, max, you'll be safe from elimination!"

Rashi and Aaron both immediately took swigs of their drinks.

Aaron managed to put in enough effort to keep his drink down, while Rashi…"

"Ahh." Rashi said as she finished her glass and held it out. "Could I get another one?" She asked.

"Must be the Irish blood…" Chef grumbled as he shrugged and took another scoop from the Fudo container to give to Rashi.

"Well, if she can do it, we ought to be able to do it." Phooko rationalized as he and Mirai both drank from their glasses, each one both succeeding without much difficulty, but neither wanting any more, let alone with Rashi's enthusiasm.

Raul and Vanessa both looked at each other and gave affirming nods before drinking from their own glasses.

Vanessa managed to just barely keep her own beverage down, and Raul, despite putting up with a far bigger fight from his own beverage thanks to his throat injury, still managed to swallow his as well.

"Ebisu with a clean sweep!" Chris announced. "No matter what happens, they're all safe for another night!"

 _Team Ebisu Total Failure Count: 0_

* * *

"Team Inari...or rather, participating Inari…" Chris looked at the Inari other than Ash as he handed them their glasses. "I'll mention it now, if you make it through without any failures, because you won the first part of the challenge, you'd be considered the victorious team over Ebisu. Do with that what you will."

Gran immediately downed his drink and held out the glass. "I'll take more too." He decided.

"There's only so much Fudo concoction in this barrel, boy…" Chef grumbled as he handed Gran a second helping of the Fudo concoction while Cherry and Ellie both drank from their glasses, each one managing to, despite obvious resistance, keep their drinks down. The last one left, Zaiyrin began to drink from his own glass…

…

…

…

And barfed it back up.

"And that's a shame, Ebisu remains in the lead, but Hayaji remains behind. Fudo's performance will determine the outcome of this challenge!" Chris announced.

 _Team Inari Total Failure Count: 1(Zaiyrin)_

* * *

"Alright, Fudo...it's do or die time." Jenae said as she downed her shake and waited for a while, while grabbing her gut, before pulling herself together and nodding. "We're good over here."

Gabriel gulped, but followed Jenae's example and downed his own shake.

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel: Team Fudo

"Better to do it all at once, right?"

End Confessional

* * *

Gabriel managed to keep his drink down as well.

"I suppose I might as well get it over with…" Erin quickly chugged back her drink.

She just as quickly brought her hands to her mouth.

"Erin...Erin, you've got this!" Watts began to encourage her as he brow furrowed. "We believe in you, Erin, hang in there…"

Erin, almost miraculously, managed to swallow the fighting concoction before turning to Watts.

"Your incessant cheer-leading was too distracting. It took all the concentration I had not to spit in your face. Take care that you never do that again. You go now."

"Um...okay…" Watts slowly brought his glass up to his lips and began to drink, before ultimately throwing it up.

"And Ebisu is this challenge's winner!" Chris announced. "But we still don't know the loser yet, because Fudo still has two players left to drink!"

Mark gulped before he took a swig of his glass, and managing to swallow it all.

"And we're down to this!" Chris announced. "If Alison can keep the shake in her glass down, Hayaji is sent to Tine Naofa, but if she can't...we'll have to put the teams in a tiebreaker!"

"Boy…" Monica grinned. "I would _hate_ to be in Alison's position right now. All that _pressure_...everyone staring at me…"

* * *

Confessional: Alison: Team Fudo

"Trying to psyche me up, are you? Jealousy doesn't suit a lady, Monica. Perhaps that is why I'm more attractive than you. I don't get jealous of others, as there is nothing for me to be jealous of. Your petty trick to psych me out will not work, I thrive in spotlight!"

End Confessional

* * *

Alison confidently chugged from her glass…

…

…

…

…

…

And finished without any problems. She wiped her mouth and brushed her hair back, before stretching, pretending like keeping her team from elimination was no big deal.

* * *

Confessional: Mark: Team Fudo

"Seriously...why is she so sexy?"

End Confessional

* * *

"And with that...Fudo stays safe for another night, and we have our winners and losers, Ebisu once again taking first place, and Hayaji now in last! Rashi, since you so eagerly took two drinks even though you didn't have to, I'll let you spin the Wheel of Reward!"

"Woo!" Rashi cheered as Alcott brought out the large wheel, depicting the cabin, charcoal, canoe, and shower on it.

"What do we want, Ebisu?" Rashi asked.

"Anything but the charcoal really…" Phooko shrugged.

"Alright...here we go…" Rashi spun the wheel.

Cabin,

Charcoal,

Canoe,

Shower,

Cabin,

Charcoal

Canoe,

Shower…

Cabin..

…

Charcoal…

…

…

…

…

Canoe….

…

…

…

…

…

And the wheel stopped.

"Ebisu wins the canoe!"

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"Considering we're the team that lives here in the bog, we're the only team that could really make use of the canoe anyways, so...good call? It wasn't really a call though, more like good luck…"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Rashi: Team Ebisu

"Uh-huh, Oh yeah, Rashi scorin' her team dat hayaji canoe loot!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"Considering all the factors of our loss today, I'm fairly certain we all know who is going home at Tine Naofa this evening. This island simply isn't the place to be inflexible in your actions and thinking."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Ionad Desert, Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony_

 _Contestant(s): Christa, Claude, Donny, Monica, Simon, Zaheen_

"I wish I could say you fought well Hayaji…" Chris sighed as a helicopter piloted Alcott off of the island. "But unless you count against each other, this has not been your week."

"I'll tell you why though…" Donny stood up and faced the rest of the team. "Chrishta's been sabotaging us, just like I said she was from the beginning. It's obvious, alright, and anyone who can't see it...I'm sorry, but she's brainwashed you. You've fallen for her lies."

"Usted es un hombrecito triste y enojado." Christa spoke as she stood up. She picked up a handful of sand and poured it back down into the desert until only a grain remained between her fingers. "Usted tiene menos valor que este grano de arenilla. Nadie llorará para usted."

"There she goes speaking in the wrong language." Donny seemed unaware of what Christa's words had meant. "Can't even communicate to the team properly, how sad a life you must lead."

"Well…" Chris looked around and the angry faces of the Hayaji members. "I suppose there's no more avoiding it. Why don't you guys all vote? Claude, you're up first."

Claude walked up to the voting booth and wrote down a name. "I have yet to find my suitable master, but I am sure it is not you." He exclaimed into the voting camera before he headed back to the bonfire.

Zaheen was up next.

"Sorry, darling…"She apologized. "But it's better you than me tonight."

After Zaheen returned, Donny went up.

"Your kind is too populous, even on this show. Leave some spotlight for the rest of us." He grunted. He then, within full view of the camera, wrote the same name a second, third, fourth, and fifth time, all on different sheets of paper.

He came back, and Simon walked up.

"You colossal moron." He sighed. "You will not be missed, even slightly."

After he came back, Christa went up and wrote Donny's name down. "Time to leave. If by some miracle you survive tonight, I will burn the idol clue in front of you so that you may never find it, you vile, vile, unworthy excuse of a human being."

After Christa returned, Monica went up to finish the vote.

"And that's one down." She smiled.

Monica then came back and crossed her legs with a grin.

"I'll go tally the votes." Chris announced.

It wasn't long before Chris returned.

"Do you think this show is a joke?" He asked. "There are only six of you...so why are there 10 different ballots in here?"

"Really, Chrishta? Voter fraud? Are you that insecure?"

"I did not do anything of the sort!" Christa defended herself.

"Well, I guess I can just check whatever is on the camera tape."

"Except that you can't, because _Saimin_ is in cahoots with the traitor." Donny pointed at Simon. "He's tampered with the evidence to frame me."

"This is just getting ridiculous…" Simon shook his head. "I wouldn't have had the time to-"

"None of us know that though! And you two were gathering together during the challenge, the perfect plan to sabotage us. I bet you didn't even gather stinky things, you just gathered whatever you saw, because you felt threatened by my success in leading this team."

"Well, if I can't trust the camera, I'll just have to read the votes as they are…" Chris suggested. "So, let's let the chips fall where they may. I have five medals on this plate. If I call your name, come up and get a medal. If you do not receive a medal, you must immediately enter the Tomb of Shame, and give up all hope of winning this show.

"This is unbelievable." Claude massaged his temples. "Treating obviously rigged votes like they're fair."

"Then you'll be pleased to know that you're safe anyways." Chris tossed Claude a medal. "Simon, Monica, Zaheen, you're all safe too."

As Simon, Monica, and Zaheen all cast their votes, Chris turned to Donny and Christa.

"Donny, Christa...this _is_ the final medal...and...it goes to…

…

Whoever can win the tiebreaker! That's right, it looks like someone's math was a little off, because rather than either of you getting a majority, you both received 5 votes! Those of you at home know what's about to happen, but for those of you that don't...in Zero Sum fashion...we're about to begin our traditional staring contest as our first standard tie-breaker! Donny, Christa, there is to be no talking amongst you two, and the first one to blink or look away loses, and will be sent to the Tomb of Shame! Contestants ready…"

Donny and Christa turned to face each other.

"Begin!"

Seconds passed,

Then tens of seconds,

And then a minute went by, and still no change from either side.

But one would have to give in eventually.

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"I feel like everyone at home is probably rooting for one or the other right now, but I personally don't care which one, because, sorry to spoil you all, the one that wins is only delaying their departure until the next time we're both at elimination. I'm claiming that team-leader spot, one way or another."

End Confessional

* * *

Finally,

At long last…

There was a clear loser that blinked first…

And it was…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

Donny.

"And that's a blink from Donny!" Chris announced. "Which means the final medal goes to Christa!"

* * *

Confessional: Christa: Team Hayaji

"I will not allow such a disgraceful degenerate the satisfaction of getting away with cheating so blatantly in an arbitrary effort to ruin my character. Only hellfire awaits his ugly soul."

End Confessional

* * *

"What?!" Donny stood up. "This elimination is rigged!" He complained. "I demand a re-vote! Re-vote!"

"No re-votes." Chris shook his head. "We're out of time as it is. Head to the Tomb of Shame or be forcefully removed from the game and have your right to coming back for the finale taken away.

"All a bunch of fake vote writers…" Donny grumbled as he headed towards the Tomb of Shame.

"She's playing you all for chumps you know! Look at me, I'm the only one who saw her for what she was, and I'm eliminated, pretty suspicious right? Right?"

"And that's a wrap on Episode 2!" Chris announced as he looked into the camera.

"With Donny gone, will Hayaji be able to pull themselves together? How will Zaiyrin and Cherry's relationship turn out? Will Alison be able to wear Gabriel down? And will Ebisu continue what has now become a winning streak? Find out the answer to a few of these...next time! On…

Total!

Drama!

Niiiiiiiiialasach!"

* * *

*Donny's Final Confessional:

"Obviously, this whole game was rigged from the start, okay? I went into this knowing that I wasn't going to win because it was rigged. Christa and Raul are both threats no one understands they need to watch out for, and Haji is corrupted beyond repair, Ebzu is obviously cheating to get first place all the time too. This is honestly? It's honestly not that good of a show. It's kind of pathetic really, and they just got rid of the one guy who could boost their ratings so you know what? I'm not even mad. They'll probably call me and ask me to come back anyways, because they know I'm the best after all, alright? They understand that I know how to crush my competition. There's no one better at it than me."

End Confessional*

* * *

 _The Votes(for those who are curious)_

 _Christa voted for...Donny_

 _Claude voted for...Donny_

 _Donny voted for...Christa_

 _Donny voted for...Christa_

 _Donny voted for...Christa_

 _Donny voted for...Christa_

 _Donny voted for...Christa_

 _Monica voted for...Donny_

 _Simon voted for...Donny_

 _Zaheen voted for...Donny_

* * *

 **AN: And the long episodes continue…**

 **So...Donny…**

 **A huge thankyou to onyxwhip for submitting Donny-The God Emperor. I had a blast writing every second of him, although, unfortunately, with the make-up of his team, and his personality, he really didn't stand a chance if Hayaji lost and he didn't have the Force Immunity Medal, which he didn't. Of course, he'll be up to his old antics by the time the finale rolls around, so there's that to look forward to at least.**

 **For those of you wondering, while Donny did his best to present a Neutral Evil persona, his official alignment was Chaotic Evil, as his acts of hatred were never within any real reason, and mostly arbitrary, using reasons he found as he went to justify them instead.**

 **Having gone over his actions this season, Donny has been awarded the status of: Villain**

 **Why: I could point you to literally any Donny scene, and you would understand why, but I think I'll go with his blatant cheating and then asserting that the person he was trying to get rid of was the one who truly cheated, even half-way into his final confessional.**

 **Donny's best moment?: Donny, like Natalie from The Cursed Island, doesn't truly have a 'best moment' to speak of. So I'll instead go with the moment I found most entertaining, and that would be how he managed to succeed in his aforementioned cheating, and then managing to convince Chris of the plausibility of the video camera being edited to frame him.**

 **But all of that's just me. What do you guys think of Donny? What status would you give him? What do you think his best moment was?**

 **Freya's challenge is up next! How much of the gameflow do you think her challenge is going to screw up?**

 **Any predictions for what might happen in the future?**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


	9. Ep 3: Tea is for Transience

*Chris's Recap*

"Last time, on Total Drama Nialasach,

The teams each got to know themselves a little better. Team Ebisu found itself split into three close pairs, Team Inari's Cherry and Ellie befriended each other and allied under the Fox Immunity Medal, Team Hayaji saw tensions rise between Donny and Christa, thanks to Monica's constant interference, and Team Fudo's Jenae managed to find and secure the Sword Immunity Medal, even under the watchful eyes of both Mark and Watts. The challenge, courtesy of Zero Sum's very own skunk of at outcast, Alcott, was two-fold! First, the teams scoured the island to find the most disgusting and foul-smelling things they could find in order to make a Traditional Crios Cath Energy Shake, which they then all had to drink for the second half! Even though Inari won the advantage and the first challenge, it was Ebisu that once again took first place, along with the last place team Hayaji's canoe. During the Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony, despite only having six members on the team, a total of 10 votes were cast, putting Donny and Christa in a stalemate. After delivering a scathing insult in spanish to her opponent, Christa managed to best Donny in the traditional first-tiebreaker staring contest, and Donny, the God Emperor, became the second contestant to enter the Tomb of Shame. Now we're down to 22, and you can bet we'll be down to 21 by the end of the episode! Which unlucky contestant will lose their composure and fall prey to the manipulations of the others? Find out right here! On Total! Drama! Niiiiiiiiialasach!"

* * *

*Total Drama Theme Song Plays*

As the song starts, various camera come out of the flora and fauna all around the island.

 _ **Dear Mom and Dad, I'm doing fine, you guys are on my mind**_

The camera zooms around all of Crios Cath before finally entering into the Nialasach Ruins.

 _ **You asked me what I wanted to be and now I think the answer is plain to see,**_

Aaron is on his skateboard, skating through the ruins, and as he moves forward, Claude can be seen following him, cleaning up the dust left by his skateboard tracks so that he can clear a path for Monica, who smiles at him, but ends up rolling her eyes, annoyed, when she's sure he isn't looking, and begins to pay attention to another part of the ruins, which the camera then shifts to.

 _ **I wanna be famous**_

Watts is looking over Erin's shoulder at an experiment she is working on, and she seems to be attempting to hide it from him, when the ruins wall explodes, causing Erin to fall back into Watts's arms before shoving herself out of them, the two then look over to see that the explosion was caused by Ash accidentally triggering a tripwire. She smiles and waves in an attempt to make the situation less embarrassing for her.

 _ **I want to live close to the sun**_

Camera switches to show Alison sitting on a beach chair and relaxing before waves come crashing in and ruin her clothes. She stands up with a huff and takes the beach chair further inland, but the same event happens, and she appears to let out a scream.

 _ **Well pack your bags, 'cause I've already won**_

Camera shifts up to reveal that Simon and Arnold both saw Alison's ordeal, and while Simon starts to snicker at it, Arnold begins to flamboyantly tell Simon off, and Simon plugs his ears and walks away with rolling eyes.

 _ **Everything to prove, nothing in my way, I'll get there one day**_

Camera shifts to Upper Ceol Fields, where Zaiyrin is seen showering Cherry with all manner of gifts and compliments, and Cherry somewhat scoffs at them before blushing with a smile once Zaiyrin leaves and heading over to Ellie to talk excitedly with her about it while Ellie is working on a costume.

' _ **Cause I wanna be famous**_

Rashi and Phooko both see the events with Zaiyrin, Cherry, and Ellie, and quietly laugh to each other as they both tend to a small garden of growing plants, with Phooko's plants looking quite healthy, and Rashi's plants looking unnaturally perfect.

 _ **Na na nananana nanananana na nanananana**_

Camera shifts to the Glas Woods, where Raul and Vanessa are sketching each other with smiles. Camera first hovers over Raul's shoulder showing a brilliantly done sketch of Vanessa, then switches over to Vanessa's shoulder, where a sketch of Raul can be seen, but Vanessa needs to keep adding wolves to the sketch as they crowd around Raul like he's part of their pack.

 _ **I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous**_

Mark is playing music in Cailleach Bog, but immediately rolls out of the way of a falling tree, he looks over to see an almost seething Mirai, who turns to him and begins to smile sweetly as she begs him to play. Mark is a little nervous at first but as he begins to play, Mirai begins to cheer peacefully as the camera shifts to Lower Ceol Fields.

 _ **I wanna be, I wanna be, I wanna be famous**_

In Lower Ceol Fields, Donny and Gabriel are engaged in a rather heated argument, and Christa and Jenae both walk up to Donny and Gabriel respectively, Christa tries to comfort Donny, but he begins arguing with her instead. Meanwhile, Jenae begins to continue to argue with Gabriel, but he stops her when he notices she's moving her hand down his chest.

As the other contestants whistle the rest of the tune around the Tine Naofa Bonfire, Gran and Zaheen both attempt to make the fire grow larger. Upon Gran's attempt the fire blows up in his face, causing Zaheen to snicker as she pulls off the trick perfectly and the flames begin to form the season title: Total Drama Nialasach

* * *

 _Location: Upper Ceol Field(Team Inari's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Ash, Cherry, Ellie, Gran, Zaiyrin_

"May I have your attention, Inari?" Zaiyrin called everyone on the team over to where the team's grill lay, unusable.

"Yes, oh glorious leader?" Cherry asked, the sarcasm incredibly strong in her voice.

"Fret not, my beloved." Zaiyrin responded almost as though he was reciting a line. "I will not take up much of your time at all."

"Why are we being called here so early though?" Gran yawned as he stood up from his hay bed.

"We are to conduct an expedition today!" Zaiyrin exclaimed. "That last challenge has brought to my attention that we do not know the layout of this island nearly as well as some of the other contestants on opposing teams, and that cannot be allowed to continue. One should _always_ know their battlefield!"

"Yeah, let's all split up and let the strategist go off on his own!" Cherry continued her sarcastic remarks. "That will certainly not come back to bite any of us later!"

"I never said that I would be alone, Cherry. After all, you and Gran are coming with me! Ash and Ellie will be the other group!"

"Not that I mind, but…" Ellie cocked her head and crossed her arms. "How exactly are we supposed to conduct such an expedition? We don't just pick a direction and walk do we? I feel like that might waste too much energy."  
"We can tell by the sun-" Zaiyrin pointed at the rising sun "that we're in the northwest of the island. As such, there is likely nothing northwest of our camp, but there is more than likely noteworthy locations both south and east of us, and we already know that the Ionad Desert and the Tine Naofa Bonfire are in the center of the island. With all this in mind, one group will go south, and the other will go east, and we can all meet up at the southeasternmost area of the island, where we shall rest until the next challenge is announced."

"I wonder what it's going to be…" Gran pondered.

"Nothing good, I'm sure." Zaiyrin pondered for a brief moment as well, before shaking himself out of the stupor. "In any case, Cherry, Gran! We're heading south! Ellie, Ash, the two of you go east! Team Inari...break!"

"Break!" Ellie almost reflexively played along.

Cherry allowed her lips to curve into a smile as she sighed.

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"Ah, but this _is_ in fact helping me with my own strategy, for if there is no clear villain on my _own_ team to wrap a leash around, then there must be one on _another_ team! I need not have them on my own team to work on defeating all of them!"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Gran: Team Inari

"So I guess...we're exploring the island sort of? Hey, I don't mind it. It just came a little out of the blue. I'm going to keep my eyes open for any foxes that might be running around this place."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Ash: Team Inari

"So, expedition time! I'm glad Ellie's the one going with me, because I don't think Cherry would be very supportive if I had an *ahem* 'Ashident', You know? Gran's patience with them also seems to be wearing a bit thin, especially considering he's already got that bad luck when it comes to his magic tricks. Oh, but I'm not trying to feel sorry for myself or anything! I'm just saying sending Ellie was probably the best choice. Zaiyrin might be weird, but he does know what he's doing!"

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Cloch Mountain Range(Team Hayaji's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Claude, Monica, Zaheen_

"Claude, do you want any help cleaning?" Monica asked sweetly as she entered the cabin and began to help Claude clean before he could answer, though when he did, he allowed it.

"So, I'll just sit out here in the cold and tend to the fire then, darlings?" Zaheen called back to the two in the cabin.

"Zaheen, you're welcome to switch places with one of us if you want to clean instead!" Monica responded in the same sweet tone.

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"Look, I didn't get a clue to any immunity medal, but I _know_ that someone on this team has it. I doubt it was Donny, as he would have likely made an effort to look for it instead of sit on his ass at camp all day. That means it's Claude, Zaheen, Christa, or Simon with the clue, and what better cover for going through their belongings than that of cleaning the cabin? That said, I can't appear suspicious _or_ too demanding of my team yet. I have an image to maintain after all. That's why I have to let Zaheen clean if she wants to."

End Confessional

* * *

"Clean the warm cabin? I would _love_ to do that instead of tending this fire, darling." Zaheen smiled as she tipped her hat while walking through the doorway. "Thank you for offering!"

* * *

Confessional: Zaheen: Team Hayaji

"My team intrigues me. Not as much as a team like Ebisu mind you, but they intrigue me all the same. From what I can tell, nearly everyone on this team aspires to be somewhat of an illusionist. I am the only one with spells at her disposal of course, but spells are not the only illusions in this world. Still, some illusions are more easy to maintain than others." Zaheen smirks as she tips her hat at the camera. "Even more so with all these cameras, darling."

End Confessional

* * *

As Monica sat by the fire, making sure it never went out, she used a stick to draw in the dirt.

"If it's a physical challenge, we should probably have Simon and me up front, doing the heavy lifting. A mental challenge...I think Claude and Zaheen would be able to pull their weight in terms of leading, but Simon would do fairly well in them as well. And then there's those obscure challenges that require more instinct than anything else. That's me for sure, and I think both Christa and Simon would-...Hey wait a minute…"

Monica looked through her dirt drawings, her eyes moving around each challenge plan she had concocted.

"Simon...you're too well-rounded for your own good, buddy." She sighed. "Well, I guess it's good that I have a hierarchy now. I guess if Christa has the Immunity Medal already, I can just eliminate you instead…"

She brushed some dirt over her pictures of Simon.

"Oh, but that would put too much pressure on me to win challenges. Maybe Claude is physically fit enough to pull his weight in physical events?"

"Lady Monica, I would strongly advise against playing in the dust." Claude announced from the doorway.

"Ah, Claude, perfect timing!" Monica smiled. "How strong would you say you are? Like, how much could you lift if we had to lift weights for a challenge?"

"As much as my master desires, if I had one." Claude bowed. "I'm a butler after all. I fulfill the requests of whichever master I serve. Nothing more, nothing less."

"And have you found anyone here you'd want to be your master?" Monica decided that while Claude was out, she might as well make some small talk and improve his opinion of her.

"If I had to give a rough estimate as to who I would chose? I would say that, of those on Team Hayaji, Christa is the most likely to receive that request."

"Yeah, I can see where you're coming from." Monica nodded. "She's really nice, and was even really patient when Donny kept trying to paint her as some sort of villain."

"No. Christa is no villain." Claude laughed slightly. "I'd say our team has no villains left on it, now that Donny is gone."

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"Oh? That's a relief. Now, don't get me wrong. I'd definitely classify myself as a villain in terms of this show, but it's not like I plan to use the money for anything selfish. I've got a town than needs redevelopment. So what if I play the game in a tricky and ruthless way? I say the ends I seek justify the means I'll be taking. Either way though, It's good to know Claude doesn't think there's anyone inherently scummy on our team. It means my mask is working and that my teammates are predictable."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Nearth Highlands(Team Fudo's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Alison, Ash, Ellie, Erin, Gabriel, Jenae, Mark, Watts_

"You've got to be _fricking_ kidding me!" Alison exclaimed as Gabriel finally managed to shove her off of him. "We're being visited _again_? Like, _again_?'

At this, Gabriel turned to see what was going on, and noticed Ash and Ellie both meandering up the highland road towards the campsite. "Inari, what is it? Why are you here?" He asked, on guard.

"We come in peace!" Ash laughed as she held up her hands and almost tripped before Ellie caught her. "We're just, you know, exploring the island...We'll be on our way if you don't want us to stay."

"Yeah!" Alison snarked. "We _don't_ want you to stay!"

"Now hold on, hair products…" Jenae glared at Alison as she walked up to Gabriel's side and put a hand around his shoulder, causing him to tense up even further. "Let's let our team _leaders_ decide who can and who can't stay. Why don't you go play with Mark?"

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"Maybe then he'll stop being so hawk-eyed around me! Plus it'll get rid of the bitch trying to get with Gabriel when _I'm_ the one-...*ahem* When this is a _competition_ and we should treat it as such. Not a speed-dating service."

End Confessional

* * *

"I mean, you're welcome to stick around for as long as you want…" Gabriel scratched the side of his head as he meekly had Jenae remove her arm from him as well "But we can't exactly share any luxuries with you. I don't think it works like that."

"Well that's fine." Ash smiled. "Less stuff for me to accidentally break too, am I right?" She joked as she managed to get a laugh from Gabriel, lightening his mood a little.

"So…" Ellie finally felt comfortable enough to talk. "How have you guys been fairing?"

"Well enough, I suppose." Gabriel sighed as looked over at where Mark was staring starry-eyed at Alison who was talking her head off about how much she didn't like Jenae or Watts.

"There's...a couple things that still need ironing out before we can be considered a fully-functional team, but we should be able to get there eventually."

"But enough about our team." Jenae butted in. "How's life among Inari?"

"Losing that first challenge was tough." Ash admitted.

"It was so scary!" Ellie exclaimed. "I had no idea who was going to go home, my heart was beating so fast!"

"Wait, did something happen?" Gabriel cocked his head.

"No, nothing out of the ordinary happened!" Ellie responded. "It was just nerve wracking to be on a team of complete strangers and having to know that one of those strangers would be voted off!"

* * *

Confessional: Ellie: Team Inari

"I didn't _want_ to lie about the whole three-ways tie and the re-vote rule, but that's very important information that I don't think another team should know. Sorry, Fudo. You seem like a nice bunch, but you don't seem like _that_ nice a bunch."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel: Team Fudo

"I know Ellie was lying about it not being eventful. I can tell if someone is lying like its nobody's business. That said...I still have no way of knowing what the truth behind that first elimination was that would cause her to lie like that. Maybe she's just an untrustworthy person, She did lie after all. Ah well, this is all stuff to keep in mind I suppose. For now though, I have a person's brain to pick."

End Confessional

* * *

As Ellie and Ash continued on their way, Gabriel walked over to where Watts and Erin were both huddled over a couple of rocks that appeared to be moving around.

"So, the _ants_ are carrying them?" Watts asked, somewhat in disbelief.

"Yes." Erin replied bluntly, with a sigh, giving off what she felt was a clear enough indication that she wanted to be left alone.

"But, won't they get crushed?" Watts pondered.

"Meh, probably." Erin shrugged. "I can't test the limits of their strength without taking the lives of a few of them anyway."

"That's...sad." Watts responded.

"It's necessary for science. You wouldn't understand it. You aren't a scientist the way I am."

"I didn't say it was wrong, Erin...I said it was sad."

"Well, yes, I suppose it is sad." Erin stepped back from her rock carrying ant experiment and turned to look at Watts. "If you're an _insect_."

"Geez, what's her deal?" Gabriel asked as Erin stormed by him.

"I wish I knew." Watts shook his head. "I guess I'll find out eventually though. She kind of reminds me of- Oh wait, nevermind. You're one of the ones who _hasn't_ seen Zero Sum, right?"

"That's actually what I came to you for." Gabriel replied. "You're a fan of it. Probably one of the bigger fans on this cast. Possibly rivaling that Aaron guy on Ebisu, or maybe even Zaiyrin on Inari."

"Enough flattery, what do you want?" Watts furrowed his brow.

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"Look, I'll tolerate anyone up to a point. But there are two kinds of people I don't like. People who are rude to others for no good reason, and people who feel like they can lead a team and give orders just because they say so. As far as I'm concerned, no one has done anything to prove themselves worthy of being called a team leader, so I don't appreciate Gabriel and Jenae running around acting like they are. That said, I was willing to hear Gabriel out. He, at the very least, doesn't strike me as a bad person, which is more than I can say for the others I've named here."

End Confessional

* * *

"It's about the upcoming challenge."

Watts put a hand to his mouth and thought. "Well, we've come to an area where I'm unsure of what will happen. Because the next contestant from Zero Sum to be eliminated after Alcott was a girl named Freya, but she was _also_ in The Cursed Island, last season, and while her vain and emotionally manipulative personality stayed more or less the same, her strategy was far more insidious in that season. So I'm not sure whether the challenge will be based on Freya as a person, or Freya as she performed in Zero Sum."

"Which one are you personally hoping for then?" Gabriel asked.

"I'm hoping for the Zero Sum one." Watts replied without hesitation. "Oh, you also might want to brace yourself mentally. I don't think we'll get through this without _some_ sort of dramatic conflict."

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo  
"But that's just going off of what _I_ know. Others may have a better idea on what to expect."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Glas Woods_

 _Contestant(s): Christa, Raul, Simon, Vanessa, Zaheen_

"I'm not sure what I expected…" Simon said as he and Christa happened upon Raul scouting through the forest, followed by a wolf cub with its own throat injury, followed by Vanessa, followed by five more wolves. "But it definitely was not that."

* * *

Confessional: Christa: Team Hayaji

"Simon has proven to be a sensible and trustworthy friend to me, so we've elected to form an alliance with each other. He's going to help me find the Force Immunity Medal, and together we're going to toss it into the ocean waters. I refuse to let anyone use the kind of evil power that an Immunity Medal might grant. The game I play shall be a wholesome one!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Raul?" Simon asked. "What are you doing?"

Raul stopped and noticed Simon, smiled, and began to write down in a notepad before handing him the paper.

"I'm looking for fruit-bearing trees along with Vanessa. Rashi wants to plant some in the garden. We told her it wouldn't grow in time for anyone to make use of it, but she still wants to plant one anyways."

"So that's what the two of you are doing." Christa responded as she finished reading over Simon's shoulder. "But why are all those wolves following you?"

Raul put his hands up in the air with a somewhat exaggerated shrug to let both Simon and Christa know that he was wondering the same thing.

"Well, just don't let them eat all of your food." Simon responded before turning to Christa. "I suppose we better get going."

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"Christa and I have formed an alliance for the time being. After the events of our recent elimination, I at least know I can trust her, and that she's willing to work for the good of the team. If I can get more info on Claude, I'd like to see about having him join up as well, but I also want to convince Christa to let me hold onto the Force Immunity Medal should we find it. I believe that these 'immunity idols' aren't any scarier than whoever holds them in their hands. I watched the Nui Kaua trilogy after all. These immunities can save someone from an unjust or unfair elimination when used correctly. To refuse to make use of a tool you've been given, in this context at least, is foolish. I hope Christa realizes that."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Lower Ceol Field_

 _Contestant(s): Cherry, Gran, Rashi, Zaiyrin_

"And as the fish swam back upstream, she noticed three foxes walking along the river bank." Rashi mumbled to herself as she noticed Cherry, Gran, and Zaiyrin all walking through the grassy fields. "Yo! Inari! What are you guys doing all the way out here?" She called with a wave.

"Cherry, Gran, the two of you engage in diplomacy with their diviner!" Zaiyrin commanded. "I shall trudge towards the main base and prepare them for your arrival!"

"We're being made to walk half the circumference of the island, thanks to our oh so intelligent leader." Cherry snarked as Zaiyrin rushed off towards the Cailleach Bog.

"Not sure why he wants us to have such a thorough knowledge of the island's biomes right away either." Gran sighed. "It's not like our camp is going anywhere. We're stuck in the wheat fields."

He turned to Rashi. "In any case, what are _you_ doing here, Rashi? Isn't your team supposed to be in the bog?"

"They are in the bog!" Rashi grinned. She bent down into the waist-high grass and with a mighty heft, lifted up the canoe that Ebisu had won as the reward from the last challenge. "I was just about to see how well this bad boy fared in the water!"

"The _ocean_ water?" Gran's eyes widened. "That's insane! The shores here are too rocky for that boat to _not_ get punctured!"

"Yeah, that was the concern of my teammates too…" Rashi admitted. "That's why I'm out here alone!"

"I say go for it." Cherry encouraged. "Who knows, you might find something interesting along the coastline."

* * *

Confessional: Cherry: Team Inari

"And if she just happens to total the canoe and injure herself, it's one less Ebisu member to worry about. Hey, I'd be a little worried about her if that happened, don't get me wrong, but stupid is as stupid does, and if there's one person I refuse to lose to, it's a stupid person."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Cailleach Bog(Team Ebisu's Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Mirai, Phooko, Zaiyrin_

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"And so, it begins...The game proper. Two have been eliminated, from different teams, and Ebisu has won both challenges. It was around this point in the game that Zero Sum's main antagonist began to show his true intentions and colors, which means if I pay attention enough, I ought to be able to pinpoint threats in the game. Furthermore, there is zero chance the challenge we're about to face doesn't have some kind of social aspect thrown into it. I'm also curious as to whether this next challenge's creator will make an in-person appearance or not. I suppose right now would be a good time to think back to my idol's strategy. He'd already created an alliance by this point, so I should focus on doing that, and I know just who to ask and how to ask him. First though, a stray fox has found his way into our swamp. Likely to prey on fish no doubt. Thankfully…" Aaron clutches his shark tooth necklace and holds it up to the camera. "I'm more of a shark than a bony fish, I think."

End Confessional

* * *

"Zaiyrin!" Aaron exclaimed, beginning the conversation before Zaiyrin could announce his arrival at the camp. "Phooko, Mirai, look! Zaiyrin's paying us a visit!"

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"I ran off ahead for one single reason." Zaiyrin smiles at the camera. "And that's to determine for myself which of Ebisu might be a good candidate to keep a tight leash on. So far, this trench coat detective is my number 1, if only because he's proven to be more devious than he lets on. I can't say with certainty yet as to whether he's truly a villain however, which is why more time around this camp is necessary."

End Confessional

* * *

"What's going on?" Mirai asked as she skipped out of the chicken coop and snuggled up to Aaron's arm before looking at Zaiyrin, stepping away from Aaron's arm, her smile turning into a frown as her brows furrowed. "Why have you come here?" She asked seriously. "This is Ebisu territory, and you're trespassing."

"I'm on a quest to explore the island! Cherry and Gran have accompanied me, and they are currently talking to Rashi, who seemed ready to canoe."  
"Wait, she's still going to try to go through with that?" Phooko asked, somewhat worried. "I'm...going to make sure she doesn't hurt herself."

"That's a flag." Zaiyrin snickered as Phooko ran off towards the Lower Ceol Fields.

"Well, we'll let you be on your way then." Aaron motioned for Zaiyrin to leave the campsite and head further into the bog.

"If you'd just be so kind as to let me rest my weary legs here for a short moment-" Zaiyrin negotiated. "I would be quite thankful to the both of you."

"Fine." Mirai clicked her tongue unapologetically. "But you better not do anything strange! I'm watching you, for both my and Aaron's sake!"  
With that, she grabbed Aaron by the arm and pulled him towards the chicken coop.

"I'm sorry about her." Aaron apologized to Zaiyrin. "She's a bit of a handful sometimes, but she _is_ just doing what she thinks is best for the team."

"No need to apologize, for I know all too well about love interests that are handfuls." Zaiyrin laughed.

Just as Mirai was about to slam the door to the coop shut however…

*BEEEEP*

"Attention campers! The next challenge is about to start!" Chris announced over a loudspeaker. "Come gather at Lower Ceol Fields where we got there just in time to stop a canoe from capsizing in the water. Also, I'd be quick about it if I were you guys. Freya doesn't like to be kept waiting!"

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"Ahh, so she _is_ here. That's good to know. I might be able to supplement my knowledge of romance from simulations with the experienced emotional manipulations of a bona fide master. The social game is one of the most important aspects of this show after all, and should never be overlooked.

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Lower Ceol Field_

 _Contestant(s); All Remaining_

"Ladies and gentlemen, contestants and victims," Chris grinned as Chef landed the helicopter nearby in the field and helped a young woman out of it. "The violet-eyed, platinum blonde banshee of the violent quakes herself, Freya! Here to present her challenge!"

Freya slowly walked through the field, as her outfit consisted of a tight-fitting hot pink tank top and incredibly short khaki shorts, leaving her stomach and midriff completely bare, she had to constantly push the large grass blades aside with her hands and feet, whose fingernails and toenails were both painted a light green. She stopped in front of the contestants and fixed her straight long hair as she moved it behind her ear, showing off her emerald heart-shaped earring.

"Alright.' She sighed. "Let's get this over with."

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"That...was _not_ the tone I expected her to take with this."

End Confessional

* * *

"I wasn't allowed to do what I _originally_ wanted to make you guys do, because apparently we can't afford to risk it on a TV show with our rating." Freya explained. "So you'll have to settle for the next best thing I could think of. It's called 'Will of the Wiles' and…"

Freya's lips finally curved into a smile. "I'm sure you'll all be learning some very interesting things about people you may not have even talked to yet before this challenge is over. The rules are very simple. You don't have to run all over trapped ruins, you don't have to look for or drink disgusting things, all you need for this challenge...is a way with words. Your goal is rather simple as well; You will each be assigned a contestant on another team. Your goal is to make them blush with embarrassment. How you go about it is up to you, make them angry, make them nervous, flirt with them, flatter them, berate them for something they're self-conscious about, nearly anything goes, but you may _only_ use words. No force, no gift-giving, and no physical contact of any kind. The first team to have all its members complete their task before the time limit of 4 hours expires will gain the opportunity to spin the Wheel of Reward, while the last team to have all its members complete their task will be sent to the next Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony. In the even that no teams finish all their tasks completely, the team closest to completion will be declared the winner, and the team furthest from completion will be declared the loser. Ties in this regard will be decided by a tie-breaker challenge of my choosing. Finally, I'll also be participating in this little game as a...a bonus challenge, I suppose. If you so desire, you may attempt to make _me_ blush in embarrassment. Succeed, and I'll inform you the contestants that received Immunity Medal Clues in the first challenge. The only catch there is, if you want to know, you'll have to make me blush _before_ you work on your target, and I can be pretty-"

"Shameless?" Phooko offered.

"Not what I would have said." Freya narrowed her eyes at Phooko. "But you get the idea. It'll be harder with me than with many of your targets. Any questions? No? Good, then let's get this challenge started!"

* * *

 _Challenge: Will of the Wiles_

 _Rules: Each contestant is given a contestant on an opposing team and must make that contestant blush with embarrassment before the 4 hour time limit expires. The only catch is that the contestants must complete this task using kind words alone. No insults of any kind may be uttered, or the contestant risks failing the challenge. The last team to complete their task, or, if no teams complete the task, the team with the least amount of members to complete their own assignments will head to the next Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony, as well as give up one of their Camp Luxuries to either the first team to complete the whole challenge, or, if no teams complete the task, the team with the most amount of members to complete their own assignments. Finally, if anyone can get Freya herself to blush with embarrassment, she'll tell them exactly who got the clues to the immunity medals during the first challenge, as a special reward. However, they must make her do this_ before _they complete their own task._

 _Contestants: Who their target is_

 _Claude: Jenae_

 _Zaheen: Erin_

 _Monica: Ash_

 _Simon: Watts_

 _Christa: Mark_

 _Aaron: Zaheen_

 _Rashi: Gran_

 _Mirai: Cherry_

 _Phooko: Gabriel_

 _Raul: Monica_

 _Vanessa: Christa_

 _Ash: Simon_

 _Zaiyrin: Rashi_

 _Cherry: Vanessa_

 _Gran: Alison_

 _Ellie: Aaron_

 _Mark: Raul_

 _Erin: Ellie_

 _Gabriel: Phooko_

 _Jenae: Mirai_

 _Watts: Claude_

 _Alison: Zaiyrin_

* * *

 _Time Remaining: 4 hours_

 _Location: Lower Ceol Field_

 _Contestant(s): All Remaining_

"Well then…" Freya smiled as a couple of interns brought out a small circular table, a couple of lawn chairs, set them all on a picnic blanket, and brought out one last chair that amounted to a small wooden throne, which she herself sat on as a couple more interns began to pour tea into five different tea cups sitting on the table, one of which Freya gently picked up. "Only one member from each team may join me for a lovely talk over tea at any given time."

Her eyes narrowed as a devious grin widened. "Any volunteers?"

Monica and Zaiyrin both rose their hands before making their way to two of the four empty chairs around the table.

"Aw, come on, Zaiyrin?" Alison immediately saw opportunity as she knelt on the picnic blanket and looked up at her quarry with the best goo-goo eyes she could muster. "Don't you want to spend any time with me?"

"I-I happen to be pursuing someone else at the moment!" Zaiyrin immediately crumbled under the pressure as the color rushed to his face. "And I would like to obtain some information to further the Inari cause in this game so-"

"Forget it, nerd." Alison grinned as she stood up. "You blushed, I got my point, so _I'm_ going to see if I can't go get a tan."

Raul, noticing Alison's strategy, slowly tapped on Aaron's and Vanessa's arms and pointed to Monica, who was busy taking a sip of tea, and then at the empty Ebisu spot on the table.

Vanessa bit her lip, unsure of what the best course of action would be, but Aaron seemed to know right away.

"I say go and sit there, if she's your mark." He smiled, encouragingly. "Who knows, Freya might just slip and give you an idea. And if you're lucky, you get information from her anyway."

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"Plus, Raul is already privy to the whereabouts of at least _one_ of the medal clues, isn't he?" Aaron laughs as he shakes his head. "I figured it out a little while ago, and I already know how to handle it so it doesn't become some big thing, which is why sending him up there is the best decision I can make. I don't need another member, like Mirai, finding out he has the clue and causing a whole bunch of unnecessary drama. That's the outcome Freya's hoping for with this setup."

End Confessional

* * *

"Oh, we have another guest, good." Freya looked up and down Raul. "And a _handsome_ one."

"Island gods give you strength, buddy." Aaron sighed as he looked around. "Now, where is Zaheen?"

"It appears no Fudo is joining us. That's a pity." Monica pouted.

"I really think I should focus on finding wherever Phooko went instead." Gabriel mentioned to Jenae, who kept urging him towards the table.

"No, as a team leader, you need to know who to trust and who to be wary of, don't you?"

* * *

Confessional: Jenae: Team Fudo

"Go to the table, Gabriel, and learn first-hand that Watts and Mark are your true enemies! Then your ass is mine!...I-I mean your vote! Your _vote_ is mine!"

End Confessional

* * *

"Ah, oh, actually, I think I see Phooko over there!" Gabriel quickly sprinted off, into the bog.

As Jenae chased after him, Watts saw his chance, and sat in the Fudo seat.

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"I don't need to know who found the clues for the other immunity medals, though it would be nice, so I suppose I'll make a small effort on that front. All I really want from Freya, however, is a good way to make Claude embarrassed. You want to learn how to do something you have no clue how to do? You get a master to teach you."

End Confessional

* * *

"So…" Freya smiled as she, Monica, Zaiyrin, and Raul were joined by Watts, rounding out the table as the other contestants spread themselves throughout the island. "How are you four liking the show so far? Don't worry, no one's going to judge you for being honest here. Not like the rest of your teammates'll find out anyway."

"You're trying... _really hard_...to get us to gossip." Watts observed.

"Of course I am." Freya admitted. "It's a big island, and you all came here to this table for specific information, but rather than that, I think it would be far more... _impactful_ , if you left this table with more knowledge than you bargained for."

"Well, I'm certainly listening." Zaiyrin nodded. "Speak on, wretch."

"What about you, strong and silent?" Freya brought her eyes back to Raul. "Feel like sharing anything? Anything you might want to get...off your chest?"

Monica turned her head towards Raul.

"Is she just flirting with you, or is there actually something you know that she has the ability to tell us?"

Raul sighed, and scribbled down on a notebook page. There was clearly no getting out of this for him.

 _I have the Fish Medal clue._

"Oh!" Freya giggled. "What a gentleman, giving up the information willingly, before anyone even made me blush! I don't suppose there's anyone out there who would like to _repay_ this kindness." Her eyes darted back to Watts.

"No." Watts shrugged after a deep breath. "I don't suppose there is, but Freya...I was wondering something. My target is Claude, and well...I don't suppose there would be a good way to embarrass him would there?"

"Well." Freya's lips parted with a widening smile. "I believe we have a teammate of his right here, so perhaps she could tell you."

"I personally, would just like to say though, Freya." Zaiyrin spoke up. "That you are far _far_ less attractive in person."

"So are you." Freya shrugged.

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"So aggression doesn't seem to be working, and there is no way feeding that ego compliments will do the trick either, so I suppose it will have to be scare-tactics that wins me the information I need, though it is nice to already know that Raul was the Ebisu to possess that teams clue. It makes that trench coat detective easier to chain if he turns out to be...unsavory."

End Confessional

* * *

"I'm not going to just betray my team like that." Monica almost laughed. "What could you possibly know or have that would make me help you like that in any way?"

Watts grinned.

" _I_ know how to make Freya blush."

"No you don't." Freya replied as she took a sip of tea, before setting the cup down on the table. "What a weak bluff. I'm disappointed. Your info said you watched Zero Sum, and liked Zastin, so to see you be somehow lamer a nerd than him is disheartening."

"Oh, that's actually exactly why I made this." Watts held up a polygonal rock that had numbers etched onto it. "Not quite as neatly done as a professional 20-sided die, but it'll work."

"What are you doing with that?" Freya rose a brow.

"We're going to play a friendly game of D&D." Watts smiled, trying his best to hide his excitement.

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"You can't compliment or insult someone like Freya. She thrives off of attention. Instead, you look for things that scare or embarrass her, and what's more embarrassing to a girl like her than being seen playing the quintessential 'nerd-game' on international television?"

End Confessional

* * *

"Okay, okay, you win!" Freya was already shielding her face from the camera. "I'll tell you who received the medal clues, just don't make me play that! Especially not on television!"

* * *

Confessional: Zaiyrin: Team Inari

"Here I was about to startle her, when this Watts character succeeds with successful embarrassment. I had a similar plan in mind of course, but now I know that this Fudo member requires further observation."

End Confessional

* * *

"Now that I know the information, Monica." Watts turned to Monica. "Care to help me out a bit? You _do_ want to know who got the Force Medal clue, don't you?"

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"He's got me there. I _do_ want to know that."

End Confessional

* * *

"You give me the information first, and I tell you how to deal with Claude."

"I think we both know that it isn't going to work like that. What's important is that I know who found which clue. I'm sure I can convince someone else to tell me how to deal with Claude if you want to stay with Freya, but I'm also sure that you probably won't be able to do what I just did."

"Watts, Fudo mage." Zaiyrin stood up. "I happen to have information of my own that I would be willing to trade with you for your own."

"You still not ready to talk, big guy?" Freya asked Raul as Zaiyrin and Watts began to walk off.

Raul cocked his head towards Monica.

"I see." Freya smiled. "I'm eager to see how you handle it."

"How he handles what?" Monica asked.

"Oh, making you blush, nothing really important. In any case, you two still want the information overload, don't you?"

"I certainly do." Monica nodded.

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"Because in this game, the more you know, the more powerful you are. I'm surprised that shark-tooth detective from Ebisu isn't here."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Upper Ceol Field_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Cherry, Claude, Vanessa, Watts, Zaheen, Zaiyrin_

"Sorry about that, Zaheen, but it needed to be done." Aaron said as he returned Zaheen's hat to her.

"It's fine, darling." Zaheen sighed as she returned her hat to her head. "Is there anywhere I might be able to find Erin, or am I asking the wrong guy?"

"Wrong guy, unfortunately." Aaron laughed.

Meanwhile, Watts was walking around, searching for Claude, while Zaiyrin tailed him.

"I happen to be an excellent judge of character, Watts." Zaiyrin boasted. "And I can tell that you are the most like me out of all your teammates. You think. Your stock is in your strategic ability. Perhaps you aren't quite on _my_ level, but you may be fairly close."

"I really don't have time for this." Watts sighed. "I'd like to find Claude as quickly as possible and just be done with this challenge before anything bad happens."

"He's over there, I believe." Zaiyrin pointed to a smiling Claude as the butler watched a snake slowly swallowing and digesting a mouse.

"And consider yourself lucky to receive such praise from moi." Cherry patted a blushing Vanessa on the back as she headed up to Zaiyrin while Watts left to go get Claude.

* * *

Confessional: Vanessa: Team Ebisu

"I understand Cherry's words of encouragement to me were only part of the challenge, but it makes me feel more confident in myself all the same. I'm more pumped up to win than ever now, so I'm off to go find Christa to pass on the praise to her! I bet she'd like that!"

End Confessional

* * *

"I'm disappointed, strategy man." Cherry flicked Zaiyrin in the forehead. "The challenge had only just begun before you were so easily tempted by another woman."

"Hardly." Zaiyrin shook his head. "I was imagining a reality where you were the one who said it instead of bratty one. I was so lost in thought that I gave them an early lead."

"Your empty words ring hollow, strategy man. My mind is no game to be played with."

"I would never do such a thing." Zaiyrin shook his head again. "I have eyes only for you, my most beautiful acrobat! And to prove it to you, I will impart some knowledge that I've gleaned.

The Fish Immunity Medal, I know who has it's clue! It was Raul, the large one that remains silent! Furthermore, Watts, the Fudo mage, knows the finders of the other clues as well. This is what I was able to cipher from my time spent at that table."

* * *

Confessional: Cherry: Team Inari

"Ah, I see. So it appears the 'Fudo mage' as our de facto team leader put it, is finally about to start making big plays. I had a feeling he was biding his time for something. I suppose if he knows Ellie found the Fox clue, he'll be interested in certain alliances, or perhaps non, but regardless, it is him and the muscular man from Ebisu who are shaping up to be our fellow competitors, or perhaps competition, going forwards. I am aware that the Hayaji, Monica, was also seated at that table, but her and Hayaji's endeavors do not concern me. Our games are worlds away. Mine being on the correct world, of course."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Cailleach Bog_

 _Contestant(s): Ellie, Erin, Gabriel, Jenae, Mirai, Phooko, Simon_

"So...how would I go about embarrassing you?" Erin pondered to herself as she watched over Ellie.

"You could start by blabbing science non-stop at her." Jenae joked as she came up behind the scientist.

Erin stood up quickly, before just as quickly regaining her composure.

"It's rude to sneak up on others. It's ill-befitting of a self-professed team leader. So what's your angle? Why have you decided to bother me with conversation?"

"Well," Jenae shrugged as she brought a heavily blushing Mirai over. "Me and my new give-it-your-all bestie over here were talking, and we think you ought to get more pumped up during the challenges, you know?"  
"I understand your concern, and dismiss it as foolish." Erin returned back to observing Ellie from her hiding spot.

"I'm not the one who would rather try to get a tan than aid her teammates."

* * *

Confessional: Erin: Team Fudo

"Admittedly, the main reason I'm not like that is because science takes priority in everything I do in life, but I also burn easy, and, I suppose, I'd rather not be the one on the outs if I can help it. Strictly from a strategic perspective of course."

End Confessional

* * *

"And so that's when I sprinted over, and got there just in time to stop her from jumping down into the rocks just offshore!" Phooko laughed as he and Gabriel exchanged pleasant stories with each other after easily making each other blush through compliments.

"Oh, man, that's amazing!" Gabriel grinned. "Definitely beats the time I had to help Alison the Annoyance out of thorns and vines alongside Donny. Man is _that_ a story to tell, or I guess show…"

* * *

Confessional: Phooko: Team Ebisu

"Gabe's alright! I hope he makes it to the merge, since I bet he'll be a great ally to have. He strikes me as a leader type, so where he goes, the Fudo loyal to him are sure to follow, and with me and Rashi, and hopefully the rest of Ebisu, we'd be a freaking amazing powerhouse alliance~. Yeah, I know I'm thinking far ahead, but a boy can dream, can't he?"

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Gabriel: Team Fudo

"Out of all the Ebisu I've had the pleasure of directly interacting with, Phooko is undoubtedly the most open and honest. If there was anyone I'd like in my team in place of a few of our less desirable members, Phooko is that person.

End Confessional

* * *

As the two continued to talk and laugh, Simon rushed up to them.

"Oh man, she's not here, either? That's not good."

"What's not good?" Phooko asked.

"Are you looking for Watts?" Gabriel inquired.  
"No, I'm looking for Monica. She sat down with Freya, and isn't there any more, and I haven't found her anywhere near her target yet."

"I knew that one was up to something." Gabriel clicked his tongue.

"Well, I hope you find her man, good luck." Phooko shrugged.

Simon nodded before heading off again.

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"I don't know what Monica was doing, or what she found out at that table, but it can't have been anything good, and I'm not about to turn the other cheek and ignore it like Christa did with Donny. He was blatantly cheating and almost got her sent home. I should probably convince her to find the immunity medal sooner rather than later.

End Confessional

* * *

 _Time Remaining: 2 hours_

 _Team Standing:_

 _Hayaji Still Needs: 4 (Christa, Monica, Simon, Zaheen)_

 _Ebisu Still Needs: 3 (Mirai, Rashi, Raul)_

 _Inari Still Needs: 2 (Ash, Gran)_

 _Fudo Still Needs: 1 (Erin)_

 _Location: Cloch Mountain Range (Team Hayaji Campsite)_

 _Contestant(s): Claude, Monica, Raul, Simon, Zaheen_

"Oh _shit_." Simon said as he found Monica, showing off a scroll to Claude and Zaheen.

"I was just doing a dustup of the cabin, and this fell out of her bag!" Monica exclaimed as she practically shoved the medal clue in Claude's and Zaheen's faces. "Don't you see what this means, you two? Donny was actually _right_! Christa is against this team! She should have shared it at the beginning when she found it if she truly cared about us!"

"No, no, no, _shit_!" Simon began to run as fast as his legs could carry him.

"Simon, perfect timing!" Monica noticed him. "I found this while cleaning the cabin! I think we know what needs to be done now. We can't have medal hunters on our team. They'll only divide us further."

"It's such a shame, too. I almost thought Christa would make a good master to serve…" Claude lamented.

"Christa was such a darling, darlings" Zaheen agreed "but when faced with proof like this, well, it's not something I can simply ignore."

"I think you're all jumping to conclusions a little early." Simon crossed his arms as he stood still. "Christa hasn't done anything to warrant suspicion in the time that she's allegedly possessed this clue, but you're already trying to send her home? I think we ought to hear her out first. After all, we did that when Donny acted up, and we all voted for him, so we know for a fact that he was cheating to get her eliminated back then."

"I seem to remember you lending Christa plenty of aid back then as well." Monica tilted her head. "It's almost as if the two of you are working together, in some sort of alliance."

Simon was not amused by the playful jab of Monica's.

"But very well." Monica conceded. "Let's go find Christa and inquire into her thoughts on the matter, but first…" She turned towards Raul, who had just been standing near the edge of camp, silently, this whole time.

"What do you want?" She called.

Raul sighed, disappointed, before taking off his shirt, revealing his muscles and tattoos.

Monica went red and immediately turned away.

* * *

Confessional: Raul: Team Ebisu

Raul scribbles something down on a piece of paper before shoving it in the camera.

"I'm happy about completing my portion of the challenge, but I wish I could've gone about it in a way other than the one that Freya kept suggesting. I guess that's a drawback of having an injured throat. Less natural charisma."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Lower Ceol Fields_

 _Contestant(s): Ash, Christa, Mark, Monica, Simon,_

"Keep trying at it, and I'm sure you'll get through to her." Christa encouraged a blushing Mark. "You are a kind, handsome and skilled musician, and I'm sure if she knew that, she'd warm up to you quite quickly."

"Christa." Simon waived her over to himself and Monica as they headed towards her. "Something troubling has come up."

"Care to explain the medal clue that was found in your bag?" Monica crossed her arms. "We were cleaning the cabin and when we went to move your stuff, it just fell out."

"Ah, I suppose I should not have hidden it from you, I'm sorry." Christa smiled. "Yes, that's a medal clue, but I don't ever intend to use the medal once I find it. It is only to keep such power away from those who would abuse it."

"I wish I could believe you…" Monica sighed as she continued her lie. "But this isn't the first time you've appeared suspicious. To make matters worse, there's been talk that you and Simon have formed an alliance, so I'm afraid we can't trust him either."

"I'm going to go find Raul and repeat some of my more mesmerizing song lyrics to him!" Mark piped up, momentarily stopping the serious conversation. "There's no tomorrow without today, after all!"

"Last I saw, he was up in the mountains, taking off his shirt at people." Monica informed him.

"Why did you just lend aid to another team?" Simon asked, his suspicion only growing deeper.

"I think you're looking for excuses to paint me as a bad guy, Simon!" Monica gasped, feigning offense. "I promise you, I meant no ill will towards us. Besides, knowing where Raul is doesn't mean Mark can make him blush. And in the more important matter at hand, this whole medal clue business, I'm only looking out for my team's well-being!"

Simon sighed. He knew something was up, but there didn't appear to be anything he could do about it.

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"This doesn't look good for my alliance. I should have urged Christa to find the medal sooner, because now she's on the chopping block again. Sorry, but even though she's nice, I don't think I can continue to support an ally who routinely makes the same mistake of honesty and caring in a quite literally zero-sum game. I do, however, still have a problem with the way this whole thing is being handled, as someone whose seen the last trilogy, and I ought to at least warn Monica to not let this behavior lead her down the same path it led a certain someone else down."

End Confessional

* * *

"Fine. I'll drop it." Simon surrendered as he stepped back. "But we should both be looking for our targe-ommph."  
As Simon turned around, Ash charged right into him.

"Up, that's physical contact." Monica noted. "I guess you're out, huh Ash? Bummer, and it was so easily avoidable too. All you had to do was look where you were going."

"Nice try, Hayaji." Ash grinned as she stood up and gave a thumbs up "I'm not going to get worked up over this so easily though! Good luck getting me to blush at all."

"My trouble will be more in finding my target…" Simon looked around. "I have no clue where he could be."

* * *

 _Location: Ionad Desert_

 _Contestant(s): Alison, Cherry, Ellie, Erin, Gran, Mirai, Rashi, Watts, Zaheen,_

"Damnit!" Alison whined as Gran's failed magic trick nearly buried her sand, though thanks to her fast action, she was able to nimbly avoid being entombed. However, Gran had managed to succeed in getting her embarrassed enough to blush.

"What would I have done if that had ruined my _hair_?"

"Are you _seriously_ more worried about your hair than suffocating?" Cherry asked, as Mirai's constant praise towards Cherry went almost wholly ignored.

"Stop ignoring meEEE!" Mirai shrieked, causing the contestants in the desert to all turn towards her.

"Oh, whoops, sorry, it just came out of me~." Mirai giggled as all the eyes now rested on her.

"You, Gran!' Rashi pointed at Gran as she walked up towards him. "Magic is stupid. Fortunes are where it's at!"  
"That's making me angry, alright." Gran turned to face Rashi. "But I'm not giving you the satisfaction of making me blush. Your dumb fortunes should have predicted that."

"You can't predict your _own_ future." Rashi rolled her eyes. "But it doesn't take a seer to see that your tricks belong in a backalley parlor!"

"Coming from a crazy druid lady, none of what you say holds any real merit."

"Look at them, Erin." Zaheen said as Erin tried her hardest to ignore her and focus on how to get Ellie, who was now chatting with Cherry, to blush.

"Fighting like children, unaware that my illusions are truly the only thing magical here."

"While they may be illusions, they aren't magical. It's simple sleight-of-hand science. Or if it's a televised event, the audience is in on it too. No go away."

"But you perform the greatest magic of all, darling! Science is constantly correcting itself, inching ever closer and closer to true understanding, and there is no greater illusion than fooling oneself into thinking they know how the universe works."  
"Science isn't an illusion! It's a legitimate and extraordinary undertaking into trying to determine the laws of the universe and how we, as humans fit into it! It's fucking _work_!"

"Ooohoohoo!" Chris laughed as he appeared on a dune buggy, being driven by Chef.

"Nice buzzer beater by Zaheen." He applauded as he held up a mirror to Erin.

"Looks like she managed to break you down!"

Erin looked at her red face and her brows furrowed further, before she stormed off.

"Be sure to head to the Lower Ceol Fields after this!" Chris called after her. "The challenge is over, and we need everyone together to go over the scores!"

"For what it's worth," Watts said as he approached the storming off Erin, "I agree with you."

"Thanks for the worthless words then." Erin sighed bitterly.

* * *

Confessional: Watts: Team Fudo

"Now, 'worthless' can be interpreted in two ways, and while I'm sure she meant the negative one, I think I'll interpret it as the positive one instead. I mean, she's obviously here because she wants the money, and clearly wants to invest it in scientific study, which is a great goal as far as I'm concerned. Hopefully she'll realize that if she lets me support her, we can both get farther in this game. An alliance of two _did_ last throughout pretty much the entirety of the first Zero Sum after all. And I already have a friendship with Mark, and that's half the team right there."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Lower Ceol Fields_

 _Contestant(s): All Remaining_

"And now for the team standings…" Chris smiled as everyone reconvened. "In first place, with a whole 5 points, and only one team member to not get her target to go red, is Team Fudo! You've broken Team Ebisu's winning streak. However, both they and Team Inari are tied for second and 4 points each, which of course means…" Chris turned to the downtrodden Hayaji members.

"Team Hayaji, you are once again heading to the Tine Naofa Ceremony, but…"  
Chris turned as Freya brought out the Wheel of Reward. "Not before Alison, the first member of the winning team to complete their portion of the challenge, spins the Wheel of Reward!"

A wicked smile grew across Alison's face as she walked up to the wheel.

"Hey Hayaji." She sneered as she spun the wheel without looking, and held back a laugh as she watched their eyes go wide when the wheel landed directly on the cabin. The only thing keeping Hayaji from the snowy mountain elements.

"Thanks for the cabin." She curtseyed before heading back to Fudo.

"Man…" Mark lamented. "Sucks to be stuck in the mountains without a cabin…"

"Oh, they'll manage." Alison dismissed his concern. "Now...what was this you were telling me about you being a musician?"

"And with that…" Chris turned to Team Hayaji. "Hayaji, I say it's team we head to Tine Naofa. I hope you're ready to vote off your second player in a row! The rest of you, you're all safe. Try to enjoy it as best you can. Hayaji! Let's go!"

As the other teams all left for their campsites, Hayaji was ushered back towards the Ionad Desert.

"You aren't going to get to the finale if you do things like this." Simon mumbled as Monica walked by him while a distressed Christa avoided glares from Claude and Zaheen as she got ready to head to Tine Naofa.

"I'm sorry." Monica replied as she stopped to turn and face him sincerely. "If there was a better way, I would have taken it, but my town takes priority over your tuition, and since you allied yourself with her, everything you say will be dismissed as scrambling. I can't build a powerful repoir with others if I'm not the one in control of my own team. I need the driver's reigns."

"You'll drive us into the ground, and rule over a team of no one." Simon. "You're repeating a doomed history."

"We'll see." Monica put a hand on Simon's shoulder as she looked up at him. "Just know that none of this is personal."

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"Interesting...I never mentioned to Monica that I was going to use the winnings for my tuition. She must have learned more information than Freya offered us at the beginning of the challenge. I guess I'll need to be careful going forwards."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"I learned quite a _lot_ of valuable information from Freya, none of which was the holder of the clues, since I couldn't make her blush. But I _did_ get to learn a few secrets. Let's just say that, as far as Simon is concerned...I truly _do_ have a 'leg up' on him."

End Confessional

* * *

 _Location: Ionad Desert, Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony_

 _Contestant(s): Christa, Claude, Monica, Simon, Zaheen_

"Hayaji, Hayaji, Hayaji…" Chris shook his head. "You can't have eliminations all to yourselves you know! Let another team end up here once in awhile, alright? Monica, Simon, you are the two that couldn't get your targets to blush, either from not having enough time to get under their skin, or perhaps not being able to even find them. How safe do either of you two think you are?"

"Quite safe actually." Monica answered. "Because Claude, Zaheen, and I are voting for Christa tonight."  
"Christa?" Chris's eyes widened as he turned to face her. "It looks like you've found yourself at the center of team strife again. Anything you want to say?"

"A few things, actually." Christa smiled. "I just want everyone to know that I'm sorry I couldn't find the force medal in time for you all to see me destroy it in the fire, so I won't be able to prove to you all that my intentions were pure. I would also like to give words of encouragement to each of you, as I can understand completely why you may feel the need to vote for me."  
"Christa, it sounds like you're giving up." Chris cocked his head. "Are you forfeiting?"

"No, I am not going to quit." Christa smiled as she both answered Chris and continued to look at her teammates. "But I'm not going to run either. If playing the game the way I feel the game should played places me all the way down here, then so be it. I of course, believe voting for me is not the correct choice, but I want to support my team. Hayaji is better than this. We've managed to come close to winning a challenge before, and we can do it again. Our team symbol is a tornado, and like one, we can achieve powerful plays and accomplish great feats. I may not believe voting for me to be the best bath, but more than I believe in myself, I believe, truly, in each and every one of you."

"I suppose…" Chris seemed a little disturbed by how well Christa was handling this. "If there is nothing more to say...Claude, why don't you vote first?"

After everyone had voted, and Chris had left to go tally the votes, Simon turned to Monica.

"So, what did you learn from Freya? Because it _wasn't_ the information she advertised at the beginning of the challenge."

"Oh, just a few secrets, really. Nothing major. I know a whole lot about everyone on this team."

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"Because now it's _my_ team."

End Confessional

* * *

"Alright." Chris returned. "The votes have been tallied. I have here with me four medals. If I call your name, come up and receive a medal. If you do not receive a medal, you will be forced to leave this game via…" Chris pointed over at the small cave hidden in the dunes. "The Tomb of Shame!"

He turned to face the contestants.

"Claude, Zaheen, come up here."

"Hey, Monica." Christa tapped Monica on the shoulder.

"Simon, you're safe too." Chris announced as Simon walked up to receive his own medal.

"What is it?" Monica asked.

"And the final medal of the night goes to…"

"You're playing a hard game, so no matter what happens-" Christa threw her arms around Monica in an unexpected hug "Promise me you won't ever give up."

"Monica." Chris announced. "This medal is for you."

Monica, shocked by Christa's support, struggled to stand up, and staggered over to Chris, who then turned to face Christa.

"There was no rigging of the votes this time, so sorry Christa. I'm afraid this means you have to go."

"I understand." Christa nodded as she stood up herself. She stopped just before entering the Tomb of Shame. "By the way, Hayaji...please remember to find or build a good shelter. I wouldn't want any of you to catch a cold!"

As Christa, having said her final words, walked into the Tomb of Shame, Zaheen noticed Monica's hung head.

"Are you... _crying_ , darling?" She asked, worried.

"We had to do this for Hayaji." Monica replied "But, I wish it was someone else's bag housing that medal clue. We just- just voted off our team mother. *sniff* I'll miss her!"

* * *

Confessional: Simon: Team Hayaji

"Wow...she's hamming it up out there."

End Confessional

* * *

Confessional: Monica: Team Hayaji

"I...I really will miss her, a lot. I have a feeling...I think she knew the whole time, what I was doing, but she didn't even try to fight with me while she was going tooth and nail with Donny. Why is that? Why is she giving me so much support even after eliminating her?"

End Confessional

* * *

"And with that...we're down to 21.' Chris announced to the camera. "Will Team Hayaji be able to stop their losing streak? Will Erin ever bond with her teammates? What's the deal with Zaiyrin and Cherry? And who will be the next contestant to enter the dreaded Tomb of Shame? Find out next time...On Total!

Drama!

Niiiiiiiiialasach!"

* * *

*Christa's Final Confessional:

"I forgive Monica for both everything she's done so far, and whatever she may do down the road. I do not condone such actions, but I understand that she is not comitting them out of hate or malice, unlike Donny, who I am glad I placed higher than. There is peace for me in knowing that. I wish I could have spent more time here, and I wish that my team put more faith in me, but I know that simply wishing for things to have happened differently cannot change the past. I hope Hayaji succeeds moving forwards, because these ceremonies do not suit us at all. Claude was an excellent butler, Zaheen an endearing personality, and Simon a wonderful ally. Monica, I hope, blossoms into a great leader in the future. I don't think I have much more to say...other than that I'm proud of the game I played. I suppose then, hasta luego."

End Confessional*

* * *

 _The Votes(for those who are curious)_

 _Christa voted for… Monica_

 _Claude voted for… Christa_

 _Monica voted for… Christa_

 _Simon voted for… Monica_

 _Zaheen voted for… Christa_

* * *

Bonus Scene:

 _Location: Cailleach Bog_

 _Contestant(s): Aaron, Raul_

Not staking out the area had proved to not work out in Raul's favor, as Aaron approached his digging place. "I had a feeling you'd look for it at night, when we're supposed to be asleep." He announced.

Raul stood up quickly and turned to face the detective. "Why...are...you...here?" He managed to choke out, realizing that writing down on a notepad wouldn't be helpful if it was dark out.

"Relax, I'm not mad, or here to tell you off or anything, I'm here to deliver some news, and a friendly offer." Aaron smiled warmly. "I believe that you aren't the kind of person who would use the medal in an unsavory manner. You have standards, and that's something I value in allies, which is why I'm going to be completely honest with you: I've already found the Fish Medal. I noticed you looking for it earlier, and I obtained it during the challenge, while you were talking with Freya. Don't worry though, we can share it, because I want to form an alliance with you. You're strong, you're smart, and I trust you, what do you say man, to the end?"

Raul grinned as he took Aaron's outstretched hand and shook it, before heading back to the campsite.

* * *

Confessional: Aaron: Team Ebisu

"Man, that was some grade-A diplomacy, if I do say so myself. It can be hard getting a stoic, slightly standoffish, and rather distrusting player to agree to an alliance with you. Now I know what it's like though, so that's a plus. I wonder if it did my idol proud. I sure hope so, at any rate. Oh yeah, I never told you guys who he was, did I? I guess it's late enough at night that no one will interrupt me this time either. He made it incredibly far in the original Zero Sum, almost to the very end, and was constantly battling adversity. He only had one true ally as well."

Postpone Confessional

* * *

When Aaron was sure Raul was gone, he quickly dug up the Fish Immunity Medal that Raul had almost managed to take for himself.

Though the darkness, Aaron grinned at the camera, and moonlight reflected of his shark-tooth necklace, creating a second, decidedly more malicious-looking smile.

* * *

Resume Confessional

"I am, of course," Aaron lies back in the seat "Referring to the most cunning man to step foot in this game, Oswald Pamesi." Aaron snickers as he holds up his ill-earned medal to the camera.

"But let's keep this a secret between us, okay?"

End Confessional

* * *

 **AN: So...Christa…**

 **First off, a huge thank you to LeFabulosoWriter for submitting Christa-The Selfless Mother. Out of all the 'Good' aligned characters, she was one of my personal favorites. Unfortunately for her, as with most of these early eliminations, she suffers from a severe case of Wrong-Team, Wrong-Time syndrome. Her selfless actions would have been a great advantage if she was on any of the other teams, however, thanks to the luck of the draw, she was placed on Team Hayaji, home to both Donny and Monica (even Zaheen to a lesser extent might have caused problems for her down the line as well), and no amount of selflessness can save you when your team is being turned completely against you. All this said, she may be able to prove how blind her teammates were when she comes back for the finale, so let's hope so!**

 **For those of you wondering, Christa's alignment was Lawful Good. She followed the rules and even personal codes she set for herself, never cheated, and even tried to rid the game of an immunity medal because she thought it would corrupt whoever had it.**

 **Having gone over her actions this season, Christa has been awarded the status of: Hero**

 **Why?: Similar to how I could point you to nearly any scene with Donny to showcase villainy, I have a wide array of Christa scenes to show how heroic she truly managed to be in so little episodes. She only lost her temper once, despite being attacked unfairly for her entire time on the show, and during that one time, she spoke in Spanish so the person she was angry at wouldn't even understand her. But honestly, it was this episode that really solidified it. She was trying to rid the game of an item that she herself had the best chance of finding, because she thought it would make the game unfair, and while her logic certainly wasn't the best in that regard, when it turned out that Monica had taken the immunity medal clue and began to frame Christa for being as bad as Donny said she was, she didn't even get mad. Instead, she** _ **actively encouraged**_ **Monica to go as far as she possibly could in the game. And while she was sure to express displeasure in Monica's actions during her final confessional, she had the mental maturity and kindness to forgive her, and even continued to root for Hayaji as a whole. Her final line to her team, about not wanting them to catch a cold, I think is a good indicator of exactly how much she prioritizes her morals and empathy over her own personal well-being. She was just, kind of unfairly, voted off, but is still doing her best to look after the very people that just eliminated her.**

 **Christa's best moment?: Honestly, despite just touting her as a hero, I personally thought Christa's best moment was telling Donny off in Spanish at Hayaji's first Tine Naofa Bonfire Elimination Ceremony. Mainly because even though she was telling him off, she was using respectful pronouns instead of informal ones, making it sort of an equivalent of something like this "I would appreciate it very much if you would please go fuck yourself".**

 **But that's all just me. What do you guys think of Christa? What status would you give her? What do you think her best moment was?**

 **Davon's challenge is up next! What do you think it'll be?**

 **Any predictions for what might happen in the future(Especially now that you've seen that bonus scene)?**

 **And as always, thank you for reading!**


End file.
